Search results for: perceived costs

Authors: Farzana Sharmin, Mohammad Tipu Sultan

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Emerging new media technology such as social media and social networking sites have changed the family business dynamics in Eastern Asia. The family business trends in China has been developed at an exponential rate towards technology. In the last two decades, many of this family business has succeeded in becoming major players in the Chinese and world economy. But there are a very few availabilities of literature on Chinese context regarding social media acceptance in terms of the family business. Therefore, this study has tried to cover the gap between culture and new media technology to understand the attitude of Chinese young entrepreneurs’ towards the family business. This paper focused on two cultural dimensions (collectivism, long-term orientation), which are adopted from Greet Hofstede’s. Additionally perceived usefulness and ease of use adopted from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to explore the actual behavior of technology acceptance for the family business. A quantitative survey method (n=275) used to collect data Chinese family business owners' in Shanghai. The inferential statistical analysis was applied to extract trait factors, and verification of the model, respectively. The research results found that using social media for family business promotion has highly influenced by cultural values (collectivism and long-term orientation). The theoretical contribution of this research may also assist policymakers and practitioners of other developing countries to advertise and promote the family business through social media.

Keywords: China, cultural dimensions, family business, technology acceptance model, TAM

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Authors: Malik D. Halidu, Cathrine F. Moe, Tommy Haugan

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Purpose: The demand for effective school-based interventions in shaping adolescents' unmet mental health needs is growing. Grounding in the functional contextualism approach, this study investigates the role of school satisfaction (SS) in serving as a buffer to school absenteeism (SAB) among adolescents experiencing social anxiety (SA). Methods: A unique and large population-based sample of adolescents (upper secondary school pupils; n= 1864) from the Young-HUNT 3 survey dataset merged with the national educational registry from Norway. Moderation regression analysis was performed using Stata 17. Results: We find a statistically significant moderating role of school satisfaction on the relationship between social anxiety and school absenteeism (β=-0.109,p<0.01) among upper secondary school pupils. Among socially anxious adolescents associated with a higher perceived quality of school life, it functions as a buffer by reducing the positive relationship between SA and SAB. But, there was no statistically significant difference between social anxiety and school absenteeism for adolescents with low school satisfaction. Conclusion: Overall, the study's hypothesis model was statistically supported and contributes to the discourse that school satisfaction as a target of school-based interventions can effectively improve school outcomes (e.g., reduced absenteeism) among socially anxious pupils.

Keywords: social anxiety, school satisfaction, school absenteeism, Norwegian adolescent

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Authors: Djaafar F., Hadri B., Bachir G.

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We studied mainly the influence of temperature, thickness, molar fraction and the doping of the various layers (emitter, base, BSF and window) on the performances of a photovoltaic solar cell. In a first stage, we optimized the performances of the InGaP/GaAs dual-junction solar cell while varying its operation temperature from 275°K to 375 °K with an increment of 25°C using a virtual wafer fabrication TCAD Silvaco. The optimization at 300°K led to the following result Icc =14.22 mA/cm2, Voc =2.42V, FF =91.32 %, η = 22.76 % which is close with those found in the literature. In a second stage ,we have varied the molar fraction of different layers as well their thickness and the doping of both emitters and bases and we have registered the result of each variation until obtaining an optimal efficiency of the proposed solar cell at 300°K which was of Icc=14.35mA/cm2,Voc=2.47V,FF=91.34,and η =23.33% for In(1-x)Ga(x)P molar fraction( x=0.5).The elimination of a layer BSF on the back face of our cell, enabled us to make a remarkable improvement of the short-circuit current (Icc=14.70 mA/cm2) and a decrease in open circuit voltage Voc and output η which reached 1.46V and 11.97% respectively. Therefore, we could determine the critical parameters of the cell and optimize its various technological parameters to obtain the best performance for a dual junction solar cell. This work opens the way with new prospects in the field of the photovoltaic one. Such structures will thus simplify the manufacturing processes of the cells; will thus reduce the costs while producing high outputs of photovoltaic conversion.

Keywords: modeling, simulation, multijunction, optimization, silvaco ATLAS

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Authors: Fatemeh Abdollahi, Munn-Sann Lye, Jamshid Yazdani Charati, Mehran Zarghami

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Both obesity and intimate partner violence (IPV) are growing health threats. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and risk factors of both IPV and obesity and their association. In this cross-sectional study, 530 women aged 16-65 years attending Mazandaran primary health centers were recruited through the stratified random sampling method (2019-2020). Data were collected using the modified World Health Organization Domestic Violence questionnaire, Perceived Stress Scale, and socio-demographic, obstetric, and anthropometric questionnaires. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the chi-square test, and multiple logistic regression. The prevalence of overweight, obesity and psychological, physical, and sexual IPV were 47.6%, 26.7%, 70.4%, 17.9%, and 6.4%, respectively. Increasing women’s educational level and exposure to violence during their lifespan increased the odds of any type of IPV while living in a nuclear family reduced it. In groups of women who were subjected to any type of IPV and only psychological IPV, experiencing violence during the lifespan was significant in predicting obesity. The alarming prevalence of IPV and obesity-overweight in this study points to the need for collaborative socio-political and health intervention. The link between experiencing violence during lifespan and obesity in some subgroups of women highlights the detrimental consequences of chronic violence and the urgent need for effective preventive programs.

Keywords: intimate partner violence, body mass index, obesity, risk factor, women

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Authors: Mustafa Tufekci, Caner Guven

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In Automotive Industry, sliding door systems that are also used as body closures, are safety members. Extreme product tests are realized to prevent failures in a design process, but these tests realized experimentally result in high costs. Finite element analysis is an effective tool used for the design process. These analyses are used before production of a prototype for validation of design according to customer requirement. In result of this, the substantial amount of time and cost is saved. Finite element model is created for geometries that are designed in 3D CAD programs. Different element types as bar, shell and solid, can be used for creating mesh model. The cheaper model can be created by the selection of element type, but combination of element type that was used in model, number and geometry of element and degrees of freedom affects the analysis result. Sliding door system is a good example which used these methods for this study. Structural analysis was realized for sliding door mechanism by using FE models. As well, physical tests that have same boundary conditions with FE models were realized. Comparison study for these element types, were done regarding test and analyses results then the optimum combination was achieved.

Keywords: finite element analysis, sliding door mechanism, element type, structural analysis

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Authors: Joeri N. Aulman

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In the remote Indian region of Gulbarga a case study of lean airport infrastructure development is getting ‘cast in stone’; In April the first turbo-props will land, and the optimized terminal building will process its first passengers, using minimal square meters in a facility that is based on a complete dress-down of the core operational processes. Yet the solution that resulted from this case study has such elegance in its simplicity that it has emboldened the local administration to invest in its construction and thus secure this remote region’s connectivity to India’s growth story. This paper aims to provide further background to the Gulbarga case study and its relevance to remote region connectivity, covering the demand that was identified, its practical application and its regulatory context and relevance for today’s airport manager and local administrators. This embodies the scope of the paper. In summary, the paper will give airport managers and regional authorities an overview and background to innovative case studies of lean airport infrastructure developments which combine both optimized CAPEX and running costs/OPEX without losing sight of the aspirational nature of up and coming remote regions; a truly sustainable model.

Keywords: airport, CAPEX, lean, sustainable, air connectivity, remote regions

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Authors: L. Krpalkova, N. O' Mahony, A. Carvalho, S. Campbell, S. Harapanahalli, J. Walsh

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The objective of this study was to determine the effects of environmental stressors on the performance of lactating dairy cows and discuss some future trends. There exists a relationship between the meteorological data and milk yield prediction accuracy in pasture-based dairy systems. New precision technologies are available and are being developed to improve the sustainability of the dairy industry. Some of these technologies focus on welfare of individual animals on dairy farms. These technologies allow the automatic identification of animal behaviour and health events, greatly increasing overall herd health and yield while reducing animal health inspection demands and long-term animal healthcare costs. The data set consisted of records from 489 dairy cows at two dairy farms and temperature measured from the nearest meteorological weather station in 2018. The effects of temperature on milk production and behaviour of animals were analyzed. The statistical results indicate different effects of temperature on milk yield and behaviour. The “comfort zone” for animals is in the range 10 °C to 20 °C. Dairy cows out of this zone had to decrease or increase their metabolic heat production, and it affected their milk production and behaviour.

Keywords: behavior, milk yield, temperature, precision technologies

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Authors: Zoe Lynch, Kirsty Zieschank

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There are several factors that compromise the utility and wide-spread use of existing emotional and behavioural distress screening instruments. Some of these factors include lengthy administration times, high costs, feasibility issues, and a lack of self-report options for children under 12 years of age. This animation-based resource was developed to overcome as many of these factors as possible. Developed for educators and medical and mental health professionals, this resource offers children a self-guided mechanism for reporting any current emotional and behavioural distress. An avatar assistant, selected by the child, accompanies them through each stage of the screening process, offering further instruction if prompted. Children enter their age and gender before viewing comparative animations conveying common childhood emotional and behavioural difficulties. The child then selects the most relatable animations, along with the frequency with which they experience the depicted emotions. From a perspective of intellectual development, an engaging, animated format means that outcomes will not be constrained by children’s reading, writing, cognitive, or verbal expression abilities. Having been user-tested with children aged 6 to 12, this resource shows promising results as a self-guided screening instrument.

Keywords: animation-based screening instrument, mental health, primary-aged children, self-guided

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Authors: R. M. Chandima Ratnayake, Daniel Dyakov

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Super steel materials play vital role in construction and fabrication of structural, piping and pipeline components. They enable to minimize the life cycle costs in assuring the integrity of onshore and offshore operating systems. In this context, Duplex stainless steel (DSS) material related welding on constructions and fabrications play a significant role in maintaining and assuring integrity at an optimal expenditure over the life cycle of production and process systems as well as associated structures. In DSS welding, the factors such as gap geometry, shielding gas supply rate, welding current, and type of the welding process play a vital role on the final joint performance. Hence, an experimental investigation has been performed using engineering robust design approach (ERDA) to investigate the optimal settings that generate optimal super DSS (i.e. UNS S32750) joint performance. This manuscript illustrates the mathematical approach and experimental design, optimal parameter settings and results of verification experiment.

Keywords: duplex stainless steel welding, engineering robust design, mathematical framework, optimal parameter settings

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Authors: Abdul Ghafar, Malini Nair

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Non-governmental organizations have been seemed to struggle the battle of balancing many concerns with corporates which may impact on their financial solvency. Some of these concerns relates to uphold the relationship where weighing up the impacts of their involvement with corporates takes priority over the main purpose of creating valuable impacts for communities. To some extent, it can be argued that NGOs are influenced by corporates’ power to tackle contemporary issues rather than eradicating the root causes of such issues and transform the results into more sustainable manner. NGOs spend massive amount of energy, time and resources in order to move some corporates to embrace their social responsibilities. It has become a norm, where an active NGO that is becoming more successful on building partnerships with corporates is perceived to be more socially responsible. In contrast to this, as some researchers argue that the social responsibility for NGOs is not a voluntary act; they must exhibit the core values in all their practices require much attention to address. This article stresses the need of understanding ‘Social Responsibility’ of NGOs that stem from an argument that NGOs tend to act on narrow mandate rather than considering broader outcomes of their CSR initiatives. This paper argues that NGOs must focus on building capabilities of the recipients from CSR initiatives which should serve as a core value of partnerships mandate between NGOs, Corporates and Governments. We argue that SEN’s Capabilities Approach can further enhance the mainstream CSR agenda of NGOs which seems to incline more towards providing palliative solutions to social issues.

Keywords: non-profit organization, corporate social responsibility, partnerships, capabilities approach

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Authors: Leila Alidokht

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PFAS (poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances) are a large collection of environmentally persistent organic chemicals of industrial origin that have a negative influence on human health and ecosystems. Many distinct PFAS are being utilized in a wide range of applications (on the order of thousands), and there is no comprehensive source of information on the many different compounds and their roles in diverse applications. Facilities are increasingly looking into ways to reduce waste from cleanup projects. PFAS are widespread in the environment, have been found in a wide range of human biomonitoring investigations, and are a rising source of regulatory concern for federal, state, and local governments. Nanotechnology has the potential to contribute considerably to the creation of a cleaner, greener technologies with considerable environmental and health benefits. Nanotechnology approaches are being studied for their potential to provide pollution management and mitigation options, as well as to increase the effectiveness of standard environmental cleanup procedures. Diversified nanoparticles have shown useful in removing certain pollutants from their original environment, such as sewage spills and landmines. Furthermore, they have a low hazardous effect during production rates and can thus be thoroughly explored in the future to make them more compatible with lower production costs.

Keywords: PFOS, PFOA, PFAS, soil remediation

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Authors: Jerry Gyimah, Ernest Kissi, Safowaa Osei-Tutu, Charles Dela Adobor, Theophilus Adjei-Kumi, Ernest Osei-Tutu

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Price fluctuation contract is imperative and of paramount essence, in the construction industry as it provides adequate relief and cushioning for changes in the prices of input resources during construction. As a result, several methods have been devised to better help in arriving at fair recompense in the event of price changes. However, stakeholders often appear not to be satisfied with the existing methods of fluctuation evaluation, ostensibly because of the challenges associated with them. The aim of this study was to identify the challenges to the usage of building construction cost indices in Ghana. Data was gathered from contractors and quantity surveying firms. The study utilized a survey questionnaire approach to elicit responses from the contractors and the consultants. Data gathered was analyzed scientifically, using the relative importance index (RII) to rank the problems associated with the existing methods. The findings revealed the following, among others, late release of data, inadequate recovery of costs, and work items of interest not included in the published indices as the main challenges of the existing methods. Findings provide useful lessons for policymakers and practitioners in decision making towards the usage and improvement of available indices.

Keywords: building construction cost indices, challenges, usage, Ghana

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Authors: Shoaib Yousaf

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The main purpose of this research is to the empirical investigation of the bullwhip effect under sensitivity analysis in the two-tier supply chain. The simulation modeling technique has been applied in this research as a research methodology to see the sensitivity analysis of the bullwhip effect in the rice industry of Pakistan. The research comprises two case studies that have been chosen as a sample. The results of this research have confirmed that reduction in production delay reduces the bullwhip effect, which conforms to the time compressing paradigm and the significance of the reduction in production delay to lessen demand amplification. The result of this research also indicates that by increasing the value of time to adjust inventory decreases the bullwhip effect. Furthermore, by decreasing the value of alpha increases the damping effect of the exponential smoother, it is not surprising that it also reduces the bullwhip effect. Moreover, by reducing the value of time to work in progress also reduces the bullwhip effect. This research will help practitioners and operation managers to reduces the major costs of their products in three ways. They can reduce their i) inventory levels, ii) better utilize their capacity and iii) improve their forecasting techniques. However, this study is based on two tier supply chain, while in reality the supply chain has got many tiers. Hence, future work will be extended across more than two-tier supply chains.

Keywords: bullwhip effect, rice industry, supply chain dynamics, simulation, sensitivity analysis

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Authors: Halil Ibrahim Demir, Caner Erden, Abdullah Hulusi Kokcam, Mumtaz Ipek

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Process planning, scheduling, and due date assignment are three important manufacturing functions which are studied independently in literature. There are hundreds of works on IPPS and SWDDA problems but a few works on IPPSDDA problem. Integrating these three functions is very crucial due to the high relationship between them. Since the scheduling problem is in the NP-Hard problem class without any integration, an integrated problem is even harder to solve. This study focuses on the integration of these functions. Sum of weighted tardiness, earliness, and due date related costs are used as a penalty function. Random search and hybrid metaheuristics are used to solve the integrated problem. Marginal improvement in random search is very high in the early iterations and reduces enormously in later iterations. At that point directed search contribute to marginal improvement more than random search. In this study, random and genetic search methods are combined to find better solutions. Results show that overall performance becomes better as the integration level increases.

Keywords: process planning, genetic algorithm, hybrid search, random search, weighted due-date assignment, weighted scheduling

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Authors: Hanady Al-Zagheer

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The purpose of this paper research is to introduce the role of the social media (face book) in growing small and medium enterprises in Jordan, Today’s developments of information technologies are dazzling. Using information technologies results in having advantages in competition, decreasing costs, gaining time, and getting and sharing information. Now it is possible to state that there are different types of usage within the information technologies. Small and medium enterprises have been grown rapidly in recent years and continue to grow. Jordanian females have played a large role in the growth of entrepreneurship and have made an impact on household economics. Virtual storefronts have allowed these women to balance roles assigned by tradition and culture while becoming successful providers. If you have a small business with a limited public relations and advertising budget, Facebook can be a cost effective way to promote your services because opening an account is free. However, this can work against you if you do not maintain the page. A Face book page without frequent updates can destroy your brand value and image. According to a 2009 Computerworld article by Lisa Hoover, having a Facebook page that looks abandoned is worse than having no page at all. You might need to hire someone or pay an employee to update your business’s Facebook page.

Keywords: social media, social media small, medium enterprises, Jordan

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Authors: Monika Paleczna, Małgorzata Holda

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Choosing an avatar's gender in a computer game is one of the key elements in the process of creating an online identity. The selection of a male or female avatar can define the entirety of subsequent decisions regarding both appearance and behavior. However, when the most popular games available for the Nintendo console in 1998 were analyzed, it turned out that 41% of computer games did not have female characters. Nowadays, players create their avatars based mainly on binary gender classification, with male and female characters to choose from. The main aim of the poster is to explore gender differences in adolescent avatars. 130 adolescents aged 15-17 participated in the study. They created their avatars and then played a computer game. The creation of the avatar was based on the choice of gender, then physical and mental characteristics. Data on gender consistency (consistency between participant’s sex and gender selected for the avatar) and masculinity-femininity of avatar nicknames and appearance will be presented. The masculinity-femininity of avatar nicknames and appearance was assessed by expert raters on a very masculine to very feminine scale. Additionally, data on the relationships of the perceived levels of masculinity-femininity with hostility-friendliness and the intelligence of avatars will be shown. The dimensions of hostility-friendliness and intelligence were also assessed by expert raters on scales ranging from very hostile to very friendly and from very low intelligence to very high intelligence.

Keywords: gender, avatar, adolescence, computer games

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Authors: A. Gagat-Matuła

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The article is concerned in the issue of social support and quality of life of youth suffering from cerebral palsy, who are temporarily orphaned due to the emigration of a parent. Migration causes multi-aspect consequences in various spheres of life. They are particularly severe for the functioning of families. Temporal parting of parents and children, especially the disabled, is a difficult situation. In this case, the family structure is changed, as well as the quality of life of its members. Children can handle migration parting in a better or worse way; these can be divided into properly functioning and manifesting behaviour disorders. In conditions of the progressing phenomenon of labour migration of Poles and a wide spectrum of consequences for the whole social life, it is essential to undertake actions aimed at support of migrants and their families. This article focuses mainly on social support and quality of families members, of which, are the labour migrants perceived by youth suffering from cerebral palsy. The quantitative method was used in this study. In the study, the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) by Diener, was used. The analysed group consisted of 50 persons (37 girls and 13 boys), aged 16 years to 18 years, whose parents are labour migrants. The results indicate that the quality of life and social support for youth suffering from cerebral palsy who are temporarily orphaned is at a low and average level.

Keywords: social support, quality of life, migration, cerebral palsy

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Authors: Khalaf Khatatneh, Nabeel Al-Milli, Amjad Hudaib, Monther Ali Tarawneh

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Software fault prediction identify potential faults in software modules during the development process. In this paper, we present a novel approach for software fault prediction by combining a feedforward neural network with particle swarm optimization (PSO). The PSO algorithm is employed as a feature selection technique to identify the most relevant metrics as inputs to the neural network. Which enhances the quality of feature selection and subsequently improves the performance of the neural network model. Through comprehensive experiments on software fault prediction datasets, the proposed hybrid approach achieves better results, outperforming traditional classification methods. The integration of PSO-based feature selection with the neural network enables the identification of critical metrics that provide more accurate fault prediction. Results shows the effectiveness of the proposed approach and its potential for reducing development costs and effort by detecting faults early in the software development lifecycle. Further research and validation on diverse datasets will help solidify the practical applicability of the new approach in real-world software engineering scenarios.

Keywords: feature selection, neural network, particle swarm optimization, software fault prediction

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Authors: Ramin Vafadary, Maryam Khanbaghi

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Forecasting electricity load is important for various purposes like planning, operation, and control. Forecasts can save operating and maintenance costs, increase the reliability of power supply and delivery systems, and correct decisions for future development. This paper compares various time series methods to forecast 24 hours ahead of electricity load. The methods considered are the Holt-Winters smoothing, SARIMA Modeling, LSTM Network, Fbprophet, and Tensorflow probability. The performance of each method is evaluated by using the forecasting accuracy criteria, namely, the mean absolute error and root mean square error. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) residential energy consumption data is used to train the models. The results of this study show that the SARIMA model is superior to the others for 24 hours ahead forecasts. Furthermore, a Bagging technique is used to make the predictions more robust. The obtained results show that by Bagging multiple time-series forecasts, we can improve the robustness of the models for 24 hours ahead of electricity load forecasting.

Keywords: bagging, Fbprophet, Holt-Winters, LSTM, load forecast, SARIMA, TensorFlow probability, time series

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Authors: Katherine Sparks, Christopher Ring

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This study aimed to investigate whether dispositional sport-specific mindfulness moderated the moderation effect of conscious processing on the relationship between anxiety and rowing race performance. Using a sport-specific (Rowing-Specific) Reinvestment Scale (RSRS) to measure state conscious processing, we examined the effects of trait sport-related mindfulness on the conscious processes of rowers under competitive racing pressure at a number of UK regattas. 276 rowers completed a survey post competitive race. The survey included the RSRS, mindfulness, a perceived performance rating scale, demographic and race information to identify and record the rower’s actual race performance. Results from the research demonstrated that high levels of dispositional mindfulness are associated with a superior performance under pressure. In relation to the moderating moderation effect, conscious processing amplifies the detrimental effects of anxiety on performance. However, mindfulness, mindful awareness, and mindful non-judgement all proved to attenuate this amplification effect by moderating the conscious processing moderation on the anxiety-performance relationship. Therefore, this study provides initial support for the speculation that dispositional mindfulness can help prevent the deleterious effects of rowing-specific reinvestment under pressure.

Keywords: mindful, reinvestment, under pressure, performance, rowing

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Authors: Neelesh Bharti Shukla, Suvankar Dutta, Esha Sharma, Shrikant Ralebhat, Gurudatt Krishnamurthy

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A key component of the physical attribute of textile fibers is lustre. It is a complex phenomenon arising from the interaction of light with fibers, yarn and fabrics. It is perceived as the contrast difference between the bright areas (specular reflection) and duller backgrounds (diffused reflection). Lustre of fibers is affected by their surface structure, morphology, cross-section profile as well as the presence of any additives/registrants. Due to complexities in measurements, objective measurements such as gloss meter do not give reproducible quantification of lustre. Other instruments such as SAMBA hair systems are expensive. In light of this, lustre quantification has largely remained subjective, judged visually by experts, but prone to errors. In this development, a physics-based approach was conceptualized and demonstrated. We have developed an image analysis based technique to quantify visually observed differences in lustre of fibers. Cellulosic fibers, produced with different approaches, with visually different levels of lustre were photographed under controlled optics. These images were subsequently analyzed using a configured software system. The ratio of Intensity of light from bright (specular reflection) and dull (diffused reflection) areas was used to numerically represent lustre. In the next step, the set of samples that were not visually distinguishable easily were also evaluated by the technique and it was established that quantification of lustre is feasible.

Keywords: lustre, fibre, image analysis, measurement

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Authors: Elham Jelodari Mamaghani, Christian Prins, Haoxun Chen

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In this paper, there is concentration on collaborative transportation planning (CTP) among multiple carriers with pickup and delivery requests and time windows. This problem is a vehicle routing problem with constraints from standard vehicle routing problems and new constraints from a real-world application. In the problem, each carrier has a finite number of vehicles, and each request is a pickup and delivery request with time window. Moreover, each carrier has reserved requests, which must be served by itself, whereas its exchangeable requests can be outsourced to and served by other carriers. This collaboration among carriers can help them to reduce total transportation costs. A mixed integer programming model is proposed to the problem. To solve the model, a hybrid algorithm that combines Genetic Algorithm and Simulated Annealing (GASA) is proposed. This algorithm takes advantages of GASA at the same time. After tuning the parameters of the algorithm with the Taguchi method, the experiments are conducted and experimental results are provided for the hybrid algorithm. The results are compared with those obtained by a commercial solver. The comparison indicates that the GASA significantly outperforms the commercial solver.

Keywords: centralized collaborative transportation, collaborative transportation with pickup and delivery, collaborative transportation with time windows, hybrid algorithm of GA and SA

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Authors: Barenten Suciu, Ryoichi Kinoshita

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In this paper, an experimental and theoretical study on the bogie pseudo-hunting motion of a reduced-scale model railway vehicle, running on double-curved rails, is presented. Since the actual bogie hunting motion, occurring for real railway vehicles running on straight rails at high travelling speeds, cannot be obtained in laboratory conditions, due to the speed and wavelength limitations, a pseudo- hunting motion was induced by employing double-curved rails. Firstly, the test rig and the experimental procedure are described. Then, a geometrical model of the double-curved rails is presented. Based on such model, the variation of the carriage rotation angle relative to the bogies and the working conditions of the yaw damper are clarified. Vibration spectra recorded during vehicle travelling, on straight and double-curved rails, are presented and interpreted based on a simple vibration model of the railway vehicle. Ride comfort of the vehicle is evaluated according to the ISO 2631 standard, and also by using some particular frequency weightings, which account for the discomfort perceived during the reading and writing activities. Results obtained in this work are useful for the adequate design of the yaw dampers, which are used to attenuate the lateral vibration of the train car bodies.

Keywords: double-curved rail, octave analysis, vibration model, ride comfort, railway vehicle

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Authors: Maria T. Mamba, Febe Marl G. Paat

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The illustrious estimation that psychology majors, psychologists and allied psychology practitioners as expert behavior analysts, if not, “life enthusiasts” spurred two essentially linked endeavors. First, the reconsideration of the time-honored ingenuity and expectations from psychologists such as the ability to perceive ways to undertake a range of difficulties, the ability to apply psychology in order to self-regulate and to display personal integrity, and among others. Second, is to ascertain solid support to uphold aforesaid expectations. This study achieved its goals by having explored how two burgeoning constructs- RQ and EQ play parts in the lives of psychology people. Having involved the total population of psychology majors in Cagayan State University along with the use of Emotional Quotient Test and Resilience Assessment Questionnaire, the study provides a précis of how perceived “champions” of psychological well-being respond emotionally to different situations and deal effectively with and even thrive on the demands of frequently changing environmental circumstances. Significant findings about how the major variables correlated with the population’s demographic profile (e.g. age, sex, and year level) were also accounted. To realize a more academic concept with the present study, significant connections between RQ (self-assurance, personal vision, flexible and adaptable, organized, problem solver, interpersonal competence, socially connected, and active) and EQ (e.g. emotional maturity, emotional sensitivity, and emotional competency) dimensions were uncovered.

Keywords: emotional quotient, resilience quotient, psychology majors, exploring

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Authors: Myoungsoon You, Heejung Son

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During a pandemic, hospital workers should protect not only their vulnerable patients but also themselves from the consequences of rapidly spreading infection. However, the evidence on the psychological impact of an outbreak on hospital workers is limited. In this study, we aim to assess hospital workers’ psychological well-being and function at the workplace after an outbreak, by focusing on ‘psychological resilience’. Specifically, the effects of risk appraisal, emotional experience, and coping ability on resilience indicated by the likelihood of post-traumatic syndrome disorder and willingness to work were investigated. Such role and position of each factor were analyzed using a path model, and the result was compared between the healthcare worker and non-healthcare worker groups. In the investigation, 280 hospital workers who experienced the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak in South Korea have participated. The result presented, in both groups, the role of the appraisal of risk and coping ability appeared consistent with a previous research, that was, the former interrupted resilience while the latter facilitated it. In addition, the role of emotional experience was highlighted as, in both groups, emotional disruption not only directly associated with low resilience but mediated the effect of perceived risk on resilience. The differences between the groups were also identified, which were, the role of emotional experience and coping ability was more prominent in the non-HCW group in explaining resilience. From the results, implications on how to support hospital personnel during an outbreak in a way to facilitate their resilience after the outbreak were drawn.

Keywords: hospital workers, emotions, infectious disease outbreak, psychological resilience

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Authors: Scarlet Alejandra Romano, Joni Kareco

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The three pillars of sustainability (social, economic and environmental) are relevant concepts to the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry because of the increase of international agreements and guidelines related to this topic during the last years. Considering these three pillars, the AEC industry faces important challenges, for instance, to decrease the carbon emissions (environmental challenge), design sustainable spaces for people (social challenge), and improve the technology of this field to reduce costs and environmental problems (economic and environmental challenge). One alternative to overcome these challenges is Building Information Modelling program (BIM) because according to several authors, this technology improves the performance of the sustainable buildings in all their lifecycle phases. The main objective of this paper is to explore and analyse the current advantages and disadvantages of the BIM implementation in the life-cycle of sustainable buildings considering the three pillars of sustainability as analysis parameters. The methodology established to achieve this objective is exploratory-descriptive with the literature review technique. The partial results illustrate that despite the BIM disadvantages and the lack of information about its social sustainability advantages, this software represents a significant opportunity to improve the three sustainable pillars of the sustainable buildings.

Keywords: building information modelling, building lifecycle analysis, sustainability, sustainable buildings

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Authors: Niels Grataloup, Micael S. Couceiro, Manousos Valyrakis, Javier Escudero, Patricia A. Vargas

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This paper benchmarks the possible underwater communication technologies that can be integrated into a swarm of underwater robots by proposing an underwater robot simulator named CORSICA (Cross platfORm wireleSs communICation simulator). Underwater exploration relies increasingly on the use of mobile robots, called Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). These robots are able to reach goals in harsh underwater environments without resorting to human divers. The introduction of swarm robotics in these scenarios would facilitate the accomplishment of complex tasks with lower costs. However, swarm robotics requires implementation of communication systems to be operational and have a non-deterministic behaviour. Inter-robot communication is one of the key challenges in swarm robotics, especially in underwater scenarios, as communication must cope with severe restrictions and perturbations. This paper starts by presenting a list of the underwater propagation models of acoustic and electromagnetic waves, it also reviews existing transmitters embedded in current robots and simulators. It then proposes CORSICA, which allows validating the choices in terms of protocol and communication strategies, whether they are robot-robot or human-robot interactions. This paper finishes with a presentation of possible integration according to the literature review, and the potential to get CORSICA at an industrial level.

Keywords: underwater simulator, robot-robot underwater communication, swarm robotics, transceiver and communication models

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Authors: Lei Qin

Abstract:

Culture has long been recognized as a possible reason to influence travelers’ decisions, which explains why travelers in different countries make distinct decisions. Cultural distance is a concept illustrating how much difference there is between travelers’ home culture and that of the destination, but the research in distinguishing short-and-long haul travel destinations is limited. This study explored the research gap by examining the impact of cultural distance on Chinese travelers’ intentions to visit short-haul and long-haul destinations, respectively. Six cultural distance measurements, including five measurements calculated from secondary database (Kogut & Singh, Developed Kogut & Singh, Euclidean distance Index (EDI), world value survey index (WVS), social axioms measurement (SAM)) and perceived cultural distance (PCD) collected from the primary survey. Of the six measurements, culture distance has the opposite impact on Chinese outbound travelers’ intentions in the short-haul and long haul. For short-haul travel, travelers’ intentions for traveling can be positive influenced by cultural distance; a possible reason is that travelers’ novelty-seeking satisfaction is greater than the strangeness obtained from overseas regions. For long-haul travel, travelers’ intentions for traveling can be negative influenced by cultural distance, a possible explanation is that travelers’ uncertainty, risk, and language concerns of farther destinations.

Keywords: cultural distance, intention, outbound travel, short-long haul

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Authors: Preethi Sudarshanie Dassanayake, R. A. Sudath Weerasiri

Abstract:

Objective: The objective of this study were to find out highest expectation and perception,highest gap between perception and expectation of service quality, and to find out such gaps between perception and expectation with regard to service quality dimensions were whether statistically significant. Methodology: This study carried out at the Out Patient Department (OPD) of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH), University of Peradeniya. Modified version of SERVQUAL with 22-pairs of items regarding expectation and perception of service quality in dimensions of tangible, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy were included in Part 1 and the Part 2 of the questionnaire consisted of questions regarding socio-demographic factors. Sample size was 200 and sampling procedure was Systematic Random Sampling. Customers above 18 years of age, able to read, write and understand Sinhala or English language, visits more than twice in last six months and who willing to respond were selected. Findings: The analysis revealed customers expectations of service higher than the perceived for all 22- items of the SERVQUAL. This high expectation suggests that there is sufficient room for further improvement of service quality in all five dimensions. Originality/Value of the Paper: This study gave a new insight for poorly researched area of veterinary health service quality in Sri Lankan context. It provides hospital administrators and policy makers to develop strategies for further improvement of service quality according to customers' view.

Keywords: expectation, perception, service quality, SERVQUAL, veterinary health care

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Authors: Hakeem Ade Omokayode Idowu

Abstract:

The extent of the role played by human capabilities developments as well as knowledge management on employees’ performance in the nuclear energy sector of Nigeria remains unclear. This is in view of the important role which human resource capabilities could play in the desire to generate energy using nuclear resources. This study appraised the extent of human resource capabilities available in the nuclear energy sector of Nigeria. It further examined the relationship between knowledge management and employees’ performance in the nuclear energy sector. The study adopted a descriptive research design with a population that comprised all the 1736 members of staff of the selected centres, institutes, and the headquarters of the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC), Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA), and Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) and a sample size of 332 employees was selected using purposive and convenience sampling techniques. Data collected were subjected to analysis using frequency counts and simple regression. The results showed that majority of the employees perceived that they have to a high extent of availability of knowledge (118, 35.5%), credibility (134, 40.4%), alignment (130, 39.2%), performance (126, 38%) and innovation (138, 41.6%) The result of the hypothesis tested indicated that knowledge management has a positive and significant effect on employees’ performance (Beta weight = 0.336, R2 =0.113, F-value = 41.959, p-value = 0.000< 0.05). The study concluded that human resource capabilities and knowledge management could enhance employee performance within the nuclear energy sector of Nigeria.

Keywords: human resource capabilities, knowledge management, employees productivity, national development

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