Search results for: criteria of quality

Authors: Manar Aslan, Selver Gokdemir, Chatitze Chousein

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This research was conducted to evaluate the factors affecting the working environment of nurses working in three state hospitals. A favorable working environment contributes to increased job satisfaction of nurses and improved working conditions that affects the quality of the work done in a positive way. The population of the study was composed the three largest state hospitals in the region of Thrace in Turkey and 931 nurses working in there. In this research was not used any sampling method. The sampling was composed of nurses who accepted to take part in this research from three hospitals. It was used nursing work index-the practice work environment scale (Turkish version) for data collection (Cronbach alpha: 0.94).When the total scale scores of the nurses in the research were examined, it was determined that they evaluated the working environment below the average. It was also determined that the adequacy of human and other resources, dimensions of the physician-nurse communication scores were low. As in every profession group, the working environment in nursing has an importance to provide quality health and nursing care. A favorable working environment will increase nurses' performance and satisfaction with their work. Identifying the factors affecting the working environment and carrying out the remedial work for them will increase the quality of the health service.

Keywords: work environment, work index, nursing, hospitals

Procedia PDF Downloads 239

Authors: Mohammad Amini, Aliakbar Alijarahi

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This research that is collected and title as ‘ the search of possibility of running six sigma process in IT education center ‘ goals to test possibility of running the six sigma process and using in IT education center system. This process is a good method that is used for reducing process, errors. To evaluate running off six sigma in the IT education center, some variables relevant to this process is selected. These variables are: - The amount of support from organization master boss to process. - The current specialty. - The ability of training system for compensating reduction. - The amount of match between current culture whit six sigma culture . - The amount of current quality by comparing whit quality gain from running six sigma. For evaluation these variables we select four question and to gain the answers, we set a questionnaire from with 28 question and distribute it in our typical society. Since, our working environment is a very competition, and organization needs to decree the errors to minimum, otherwise it lasts their customers. The questionnaire from is given to 55 persons, they were filled and returned by 50 persons, after analyzing the forms these results is gained: - IT education center needs to use and run this system (six sigma) for improving their process qualities. - The most factors need to run the six sigma exist in the IT education center, but there is a need to support.

Keywords: education, customer, self-action, quality, continuous improvement process

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Authors: Yuan-Jye Tseng, Yi-Shiuan Chen

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In this paper, a new concept of closed-loop design model is presented. The closed-loop design model is developed by integrating forward design and reverse design. Based on this new concept, a closed-loop design model for sustainable manufacturing by integrated evaluation of forward design, reverse design, and green manufacturing using a fuzzy analytic network process is developed. In the design stage of a product, with a given product requirement and objective, there can be different ways to design the detailed components and specifications. Therefore, there can be different design cases to achieve the same product requirement and objective. Thus, in the design evaluation stage, it is required to analyze and evaluate the different design cases. The purpose of this research is to develop a model for evaluating the design cases by integrated evaluation of forward design, reverse design, and green manufacturing models. A fuzzy analytic network process model is presented for integrated evaluation of the criteria in the three models. The comparison matrices for evaluating the criteria in the three groups are established. The total relational values among the three groups represent the total relational effects. In application, a super matrix can be created and the total relational values can be used to evaluate the design cases for decision-making to select the final design case. An example product is demonstrated in this presentation. It shows that the model is useful for integrated evaluation of forward design, reverse design, and green manufacturing to achieve a closed-loop design for sustainable manufacturing objective.

Keywords: design evaluation, forward design, reverse design, closed-loop design, supply chain management, closed-loop supply chain, fuzzy analytic network process

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Authors: Manqhai Kraai, Adrian M. Shrader, Peter F. Scogings

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For animals living in herds, competition between group members increases as herd size increases. The intensity of this competition is likely greater across poor quality landscapes and during the dry season. In contrast to wild herbivores, herd size in domestic livestock is determined by their owners. This then raises the question, how do domestic livestock, like goats, reduce competition for food within these defined herds? To explore this question, large-scale foraging behaviour of both small (12 to 28 individuals) and large (42 to 83 individuals) herds of free-ranging goats were recorded in Tugela Ferry, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The study was conducted on three different landscapes that varied in both food quality and availability, during the wet and dry seasons of 2013-2014. The goats were housed in kraals overnight and let out in the mornings to forage unattended. Thus, foraging decisions were made by the goats and not by herders. The large-scale foraging behaviours focussed on included, (i) total distance travelled by goats while foraging, (ii) distance travelled before starting to feed, (iii) travel speed, and (iv) feeding duration. This was done using Garmin Foretrex 401 GPS devices harnessed to two goats per herd. Irrespective of season, there was no difference in the total distance travelled by the different sized herds across the different quality landscapes. However, both small and large herds started feeding farther from the kraal in the dry compared to the wet season. Despite this, there was no significant seasonal difference in total amount of time the herds spent feeding across the different landscapes. Finally, both small and large herds increased their travel speed across all the landscapes in the dry season, but large herds travelled faster than small herds. This increase was likely to maximise the time that large herds could spend feeding in good areas. Ultimately, these results indicate that both small and large herds were affected by declines in food quality and quantity during the dry season. However, as large herds made greater behavioural adjustments compared to smaller herds (i.e., feeding farther away from the kraal and travelling faster), it appeared that they were more affected by the seasonal increases in intra-herd competition.

Keywords: distance, feeding duration, food availability, food quality, travel speed

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Authors: Elisa Coraggio, Dawei Han, Weiru Liu, Theo Tryfonas

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Water is one of the most important resources for human society. The world is currently undergoing a wave of urban growth, and pollution problems are of a great impact. Monitoring water quality is a key task for the future of the environment and human species. In recent times, researchers, using Smart Cities technologies are trying to mitigate the problems generated by the population growth in urban areas. The availability of huge amounts of data collected by a pervasive urban IoT can increase the transparency of decision making. Several services have already been implemented in Smart Cities, but more and more services will be involved in the future. Water quality monitoring can successfully be implemented in the urban IoT. The combination of water quality sensors, cloud computing, smart city infrastructure, and IoT technology can lead to a bright future for environmental monitoring. In the past decades, lots of effort has been put on monitoring and predicting water quality using traditional approaches based on manual collection and laboratory-based analysis, which are slow and laborious. The present study proposes a methodology for implementing a water quality prediction model using artificial intelligence techniques and comparing the results obtained with different algorithms. Furthermore, a 3D numerical model will be created using the software D-Water Quality, and simulation results will be used as a training dataset for the artificial intelligence algorithm. This study derives the methodology and demonstrates its implementation based on information and data collected at the floating harbour in the city of Bristol (UK). The city of Bristol is blessed with the Bristol-Is-Open infrastructure that includes Wi-Fi network and virtual machines. It was also named the UK ’s smartest city in 2017.In recent times, researchers, using Smart Cities technologies are trying to mitigate the problems generated by the population growth in urban areas. The availability of huge amounts of data collected by a pervasive urban IoT can increase the transparency of decision making. Several services have already been implemented in Smart Cities, but more and more services will be involved in the future. Water quality monitoring can successfully be implemented in the urban IoT. The combination of water quality sensors, cloud computing, smart city infrastructure, and IoT technology can lead to a bright future for the environment monitoring. In the past decades, lots of effort has been put on monitoring and predicting water quality using traditional approaches based on manual collection and laboratory-based analysis, which are slow and laborious. The present study proposes a new methodology for implementing a water quality prediction model using artificial intelligence techniques and comparing the results obtained with different algorithms. Furthermore, a 3D numerical model will be created using the software D-Water Quality, and simulation results will be used as a training dataset for the Artificial Intelligence algorithm. This study derives the methodology and demonstrate its implementation based on information and data collected at the floating harbour in the city of Bristol (UK). The city of Bristol is blessed with the Bristol-Is-Open infrastructure that includes Wi-Fi network and virtual machines. It was also named the UK ’s smartest city in 2017.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, hydroinformatics, numerical modelling, smart cities, water quality

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Authors: Mihaela Munteanu (Pila), Silvius Stanciu

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This paper presents the aspects of the official control of fishery in the Republic of Moldova. Currently, the regulations and the activity of national institutions with responsibilities in the field of food quality are in a process of harmonization with the European rules, aiming at European integration, quality improvement and providing a higher level of food safety. The National Agency for Food Safety is the main national body with responsibilities in the field of food safety. In the field of fishery products, the Agency carries out an intensive activity of informing the citizen and controlling the products marketed. The paper presents the dangers related to the consumption of fish and fishery products traded on the national market, the sanitary-veterinary inspections conducted by the profile institution and the improper situations identified. The national market of fishery products depends largely on imports, mainly focused on ocean fish. The research carried out has shown that during the period 2011-2018, following the inspections carried out on fishery products traded on the national market, a number of inconsistencies have been identified. Thus, indigenous products were frequently detected with sensory characteristics unfit for consumption, and being commercialized in inappropriate locations or contaminated with chemical pollutants. On import products controlled, the most frequent inconsistent situations have been represented by inconsistent sensory aspects and by parasite contamination. Taking into account the specific aspects of aquatic products, including the high level of alterability, special conditions of growth, marketing, culinary preparation and consumption are necessary in order to decrease the risk of disease over the population. Certificates, attestations and other documents certifying the quality of batches, completed by additional laboratory examinations, are necessary in order to increase the level of confidence on the quality of products marketed in the Republic. The implementation of various control procedures and mechanisms at national level, correlated with the focused activity of the specialized institutions, can decrease the risk of contamination and avoid cases of disease on the population due to the consumption of fishery products.

Keywords: fishery products, food safety, quality control, Republic of Moldova

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Authors: A.Beril Tugrul, Selahattin Cimen

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Dependency of humanity on the energy is ever-increasing today and the energy policies are reaching undeniable and un-ignorable dimensions steering the political events as well. Therefore, energy has the highest priority for Turkey like any other country. In this study, the energy supply security for Turkey evaluated according to the strategic criteria of energy policy. Under these circumstances, different alternatives are described and assessed with in terms of the energy expansion of Turkey. With this study, different opportunities in the energy expansion of Turkey is clarified and emphasized.

Keywords: energy policy, energy strategy, future projection, Turkey

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Authors: Regina Connolly, Murray Scott, William DeLone

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Social media are revolutionary technologies that are transforming the way we communicate, the way we collaborate and the way we influence. Companies are making major investments in platforms such as Facebook and Twitter because they realize that social media are an influential force on customer perceptions and behavior. However, to date there is little guidance on what constitutes an effective deployment of social media and there is no empirical evidence that social medial investments are yielding positive returns. This research develops and validates the components of an effective corporate social media platform in order to examine the impact of effective social media on customer intentions and behavior.

Keywords: service quality, social value, social media, IS success, Web 2.0, customer behaviour

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Authors: Amin Padash, Gholam Reza Nabi Bid Hendi, Hassan Hoveidi

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Purpose: The aim of this research is developing a model for green management based on Health, Safety and Environmental Management System. An HSE-MS can be a powerful tool for organizations to both improve their environmental, health and safety performance, and enhance their business efficiency to green management. Model: The model is developed in this study can be used for industries as guidelines for implementing green management issue by considering Health, Safety and Environmental Management System. Case Study: The Pars Special Economic / Energy Zone Organization on behalf of Iran’s Petroleum Ministry and National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) manages and develops the South and North oil and gas fields in the region. Methodology: This research according to objective is applied and based on implementing is descriptive and also prescription. We used technique MCDM (Multiple Criteria Decision-Making) for determining the priorities of the factors. Based on process approach the model consists of the following steps and components: first factors involved in green issues are determined. Based on them a framework is considered. Then with using MCDM (Multiple Criteria Decision-Making) algorithms (TOPSIS) the priority of basic variables are determined. The authors believe that the proposed model and results of this research can aid industries managers to implement green subjects according to Health, Safety and Environmental Management System in a more efficient and effective manner. Finding and conclusion: Basic factors involved in green issues and their weights can be the main finding. Model and relation between factors are the other finding of this research. The case is considered Petrochemical Company for promoting the system of ecological industry thinking.

Keywords: Fuzzy-AHP method , green management, health, safety and environmental management system, MCDM technique, TOPSIS

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Authors: Laid Fekih

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Background: Depression affects people in all communities across the world and in all aspects of their lives. Its spread varies from one country to another, can happen at any age and get rid of it is not easy. There is no clear policy in Algeria's higher education institutions to detect and treat these disorders or pay particular attention to those at risk. Identifying the prevalence of depression among Algerian students, its correlation with different variables, and studying gender differences in the light of a range of variables is necessary to develop an appropriate plan to raise the level of hope and love of life among students. Method: Random samples of 1500 University of Tlemcen students (967 girls and 533 boys), aged 19 to 24 years completed a self-administered questionnaire that included Beck's Depression Inventory ®-II (BDI®-II), (School Health Promotion: The Mood part), Other questions included in this survey focused on demographic characteristics including gender, age and year of study, academic performance (Annual Average Score (0-20) AAS), were examined. Results: The rate of depression (moderate, severe and extreme) varied from 03% to 13% among university students in Tlemcen University. There was no difference in the rates of depression in male and female students, which means that male and female students do have similar rates of depression. The rate of depression in the first-year of the study shows a higher score relative to students of other years. Depression has a negative relationship with academic performance, which means that depressed students have many difficulties in academic tasks at university. Conclusion: Depression among university students is an important center of interest in the world, not only because of the ease with which they can be followed, or the difficulties encountered during their studies and their technical courses but for the link between the level of depression and the quality of care of mental health services, especially if many students with mood and emotional problems don't meet the criteria for psychotherapy.

Keywords: depression, epidemiology, university students, academic performance

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Authors: Daniel M. Muntean, Viorel Ungureanu

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More than half of the urban population in Romania lives today in residential buildings made out of large prefabricated reinforced concrete panels. Since their initial design was made in the 1960’s, these housing units are now being technically and morally outdated, consuming large amounts of energy for heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting, while failing to meet the needs of the contemporary life-style. Due to their widespread use, the design of a system that improves their energy efficiency would have a real impact, not only on the energy consumption of the residential sector, but also on the quality of life that it offers. Furthermore, with the transition of today’s existing power grid to a “smart grid”, buildings could become an active element for future electricity networks by contributing in micro-generation and energy storage. One of the most addressed issues today is to find locally adapted strategies that can be applied considering the 20-20-20 EU policy criteria and to offer sustainable and innovative solutions for the cost-optimal energy performance of buildings adapted on the existing local market. This paper presents a possible adaptive design scenario towards sustainable retrofitting of these housing units. The apartments are transformed in order to meet the current living requirements and additional extensions are placed on top of the building, replacing the unused roof space, acting not only as housing units, but as active solar energy collection systems. An adaptive building envelope is ensured in order to achieve overall air-tightness and an elevator system is introduced to facilitate access to the upper levels.

Keywords: adaptive building, energy efficiency, retrofitting, residential buildings, smart grid

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Authors: Mircea Pastrav, Horia Constantinescu

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The construction industry is currently trying to develop sustainable reinforced concrete structures. In trying to aid in the effort, the research presented in this paper aims to prove the efficiency of modified special hybrid moment frames composed of discretely jointed precast and post-tensioned concrete members. This aim is due to the fact that current design standards do not cover the spatial design of moment frame structures assembled by post-tensioning with special hybrid joints. This lack of standardization is coupled with the fact that previous experimental programs, available in scientific literature, deal mainly with plane structures and offer little information regarding spatial behavior. A spatial model of a modified hybrid moment frame is experimentally analyzed. The experimental results of a natural scale model test of a corner column-beams sub-structure, cut from an actual multilevel building tested to seismic type loading are presented in order to highlight the behavior of this type of structure. The test is performed under alternative cycles of imposed lateral displacements, up to a storey drift ratio of 0.035. Seismic response of the spatial model is discussed considering the acceptance criteria for reinforced concrete frame structures designed based on experimental tests, as well as some of its major sustainability features. The results obtained show an overall excellent behavior of the system. The joint detailing allows for quick and cheap repairs after an accidental event and a self-balancing behavior of the system that ensures it can be used almost immediately after an accidental event it.

Keywords: modified hybrid joint, seismic type loading response, self-balancing structure, acceptance criteria

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Authors: Bekmurza H. Aitchanov, Sholpan K. Aitchanova, Olimzhon A. Baimuratov, Aitkul N. Aldibekova

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This work considers the automated control system (ACS) of milk quality during its magnetic field processing. For achieving high level of quality control methods were applied transformation of complex nonlinear systems in a linearized system with a less complex structure. Presented ACS is adjustable by seven parameters: mass fraction of fat, mass fraction of dry skim milk residues (DSMR), density, mass fraction of added water, temperature, mass fraction of protein, acidity.

Keywords: fluids magnetization, nuclear magnetic resonance, automated control system, dynamic pulse-frequency modulator, PFM, nonlinear systems, structural model

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Authors: Ali Rabah

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This research received no grant or financial support from any public, commercial, or none governmental agency. The author conducted this work as part of his normal research activities as a professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Khartoum, Sudan. Abstract While fossil oil reserves have been receding, the demand for diesel and gasoline has been growing. In recent years, syngas of biomass origin has been emerging as a viable feedstock for Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis, a process for manufacturing synthetic gasoline and diesel. This paper reports the optimization of syngas quality to match FT synthesis requirements. The optimization model maximizes the thermal efficiency under the constraint of H2/CO≥2.0 and operating conditions of equivalent ratio (0 ≤ ER ≤ 1.0), steam to biomass ratio (0 ≤ SB ≤ 5), and gasification temperature (500 °C ≤ Tg ≤ 1300 °C). The optimization model is executed using the optimization section of the Model Analysis Tools of the Aspen Plus simulator. The model is tested using eleven (11) types of MSW. The optimum operating conditions under which the objective function and the constraint are satisfied are ER=0, SB=0.66-1.22, and Tg=679 - 763°C. Under the optimum operating conditions, the syngas quality is H2=52.38 - 58.67-mole percent, LHV=12.55 - 17.15 MJ/kg, N2=0.38 - 2.33-mole percent, and H2/CO≥2.15. The generalized optimization model reported could be extended to any other type of biomass and coal. Keywords: MSW, Syngas, Optimization, Fischer-Tropsch.

Keywords: syngas, MSW, optimization, Fisher-Tropsh

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Authors: Abdelghani Boudiaf

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The profusion of studies relating to the concept of organizational learning shows the importance that has been given to this concept in the management sciences. A few years ago, companies leaned towards ISO 9001 certification; this requires the implementation of the quality management system (QMS). In order for this objective to be achieved, companies must have a set of skills, which pushes them to develop learning through continuous training. The results of empirical research have shown that implementation of the QMS in the company promotes the development of learning. It should also be noted that several types of learning are developed in this sense. Given the nature of skills development is normative in the context of the quality demarche, companies are obliged to qualify and improve the skills of their human resources. Continuous training is the keystone to develop the necessary learning. To carry out continuous training, companies need to be able to identify their real needs by developing training plans based on well-defined engineering. The training process goes obviously through several stages. Initially, training has a general aspect, that is to say, it focuses on topics and actions of a general nature. Subsequently, this is done in a more targeted and more precise way to accompany the evolution of the QMS and also to make the changes decided each time (change of working method, change of practices, change of objectives, change of mentality, etc.). To answer our problematic we opted for the method of qualitative research. It should be noted that the case study method crosses several data collection techniques to explain and understand a phenomenon. Three cases of companies were studied as part of this research work using different data collection techniques related to this method.

Keywords: changing mentalities, continuing training, organizational learning, quality management system, skills development

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Authors: Long Chen

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With the proliferation of E-Learning, collaborative learning becomes more and more popular in various teaching and learning occasions. Studies over the years have proved that actively participating in classroom discussion can enhance student's learning experience, consolidating their knowledge and understanding of the class content. Collaborative learning can also allow students to share their resources and knowledge by exchanging, absorbing, and observing one another's opinions and ideas. Community Question Answering (CQA) services are particularly suitable paradigms for collaborative learning, since it is essentially an online collaborative learning platform where one can get information from multiple sources for he/her to choose from. However, current CQA services have only achieved limited success in collaborative learning due to the uncertainty of answers' quality. In this paper, we predict the quality of answers in a CQA service, i.e. Yahoo! Answers, for the use of online education and distance learning, which would enable a student to find relevant answers and potential answerers more effectively and efficiently, and thus greatly increase students' user experience in CQA services. Our experiment reveals that the quality of answers is influenced by a series of factors such as asking time, relations between users, and his/her experience in the past. We also show that by modelling user's profile with our proposed personalized features, student's satisfaction towards the provided answers could be accurately estimated.

Keywords: Community Question Answering, Collaborative Learning, Log File, Co-Training

Procedia PDF Downloads 435

Authors: Junzhang Wu, Yifeng Zou, Alessandro Manzardo, Antonio Scipioni

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Dynamic expiration dates (DEDs) play an essential role in reducing food waste in the context of the sustainable cold chain and food system. However, it is unknown for the trades-off in retail benefits when setting an expiration date on fresh food products. This study aims to develop a multi-dimensional decision-making model that integrates DEDs with food waste based on wireless sensor network technology. The model considers the initial quality of fresh food and the change rate of food quality with the storage temperature as cross-independent variables to identify the potential impacts of food waste in retail by applying s DEDs system. The results show that retail benefits from the DEDs system depend on each scenario despite its advanced technology. In the DEDs, the storage temperature of the retail shelf leads to the food waste rate, followed by the change rate of food quality and the initial quality of food products. We found that the DEDs system could reduce food waste when food products are stored at lower temperature areas. Besides, the potential of food savings in an extended replenishment cycle is significantly more advantageous than the fixed expiration dates (FEDs). On the other hand, the information-sharing approach of the DEDs system is relatively limited in improving sustainable assessment performance of food waste in retail and even misleads consumers’ choices. The research provides a comprehensive understanding to support the techno-economic choice of the DEDs associated with food waste in retail.

Keywords: dynamic expiry dates (DEDs), food waste, retail benefits, fixed expiration dates (FEDs)

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Authors: Fay A. Al-Khalifa, Fariel Khan, Anamika Jiwane

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Responding to some governmentally enforced building sustainability criteria is today becoming an unavoidable challenge to the real estate development industry and is no longer an extra that allows developers to gain competitive advantages. Previous studies suggested that using green technologies, if done under the right circumstances, could lead to positive incentives, tax breaks, higher rents, cost savings and higher property values in the long run. This is all in addition to the marketing benefits of the green label. There are, however, still countries, mostly in the developing world, that lack the implementation of such sustainability guidelines and assessment tools. This research aspires to investigate the market’s readiness to implement such criteria, its perception of sustainable architecture and building users motivation to use and/or invest in sustainable buildings. The study showed via a survey administered to 385 inhabitants and investors in commercial real estate in Bahrain that the respondents have a limited understanding of the benefits of green buildings and are unlikely to want to occupy or invest in a green building under the current social, economic and industrial conditions. Reliability of green technology, effectiveness, price and the questionable long-term financial benefits were among the major concerns. The study suggests that the promotion of sustainable architecture should respond to the current market concerns in a more direct way to trigger an interest in investors and users of commercial real estate project. This stimulated attention should consequently encourage developers to consider incorporating sustainability measures, apply for green building assessment programs and invest in green technologies, all of which need higher capitals that are nonetheless financially justifiable on the long run.

Keywords: investment, real estate, sustainability, clients perception, Bahrain

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Authors: Cristina Damian, Eduard Malcek, Ana Leahu, Sorina Ropciuc, Andrei Lobiuc

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Given the high rivalry nowadays, the food sector must offer the markets an attractive product, which at the same time has good quality and is safe from health aspects for the consumers. Known for their high content of antioxidant compounds, especially anthocyanins, which proven human health benefits, berries from the Rosaceae family plants have a significantly high level of phytochemicals: phenolic flavonoids, such as anthocyanins, ellagic acid (tannin), quercetin, gallic acid, cyanidin, pelargonidine, catechins, kaempferol and salicylic acid. Colour and bioactive compounds, such as vitamin C and anthocyanins, are important for the attractiveness of berries and their preserved products. The levels of bioactive compounds and sensory properties of the product as it reaches the consumer are dependent on raw material, i.e., berries used, processing and storage conditions. In this study, four varieties of raspberry jam were analyzed, 3 of them purchased commercially; they were purchased at reasonable prices, precisely to include as large a sample of the consumer population as possible. The fourth assortment was made at home according to the traditional recipe without the addition of sweeteners or preservatives. As for the homemade red raspberry jam, it had a sugar concentration of 64.9%, being the most appreciated of all assortments. The homemade raspberry jam was most appreciated due to the taste and aroma of the product. The SCHWARTAU assortment was chosen in second place by the participants in the study (sensory analysis). The quality/price ratio is also valid this time, finding that a high-quality product will have a higher purchase price. Thus, the study had the role of presenting the preferences of the sample participating in the study by age categories.

Keywords: red rasperry, jam, antioxidant, colour, sensory analysis

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Authors: Khalid Soussi

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Implementing innovative teaching and learning methods is of pivotal importance for student motivation and teaching quality. At the center of such quality are teaching competencies. The present paper investigates three teachers’ core competencies related to their innovative teaching performance: educational/pedagogical competency, teaching competency, and social competency. The paper also attempts to describe the influence of social factors on innovation in higher education. Many recent studies highlight the technological competency as an independent one, but it is believed in this study that the latter makes part of the pedagogical competency. A Likert scale questionnaire was used to measure teachers’ judgements of core competencies role in innovative teaching performance. The study also attempted to demarcate the social variables that may affect innovative teaching in higher education. The findings indicate that teachers’ educational competency and teaching competency were generally confirmed to be either important or very important for innovation in teaching performance. Regarding social competency, the study also shows that satisfaction from job, daily working hours, amount of workload, flexibility in the functioning and the quality of students are the main factors that have a large effect on teachers’ innovative teaching performance.

Keywords: higher education, innovative teaching, teaching competencies, teaching performance

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Authors: Hafid Nadia, Meziane Toufik

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The aim of this study was the characterization of the goat meat by the determination of quantity and the quality in Batna region. The first part was the evaluation of production and consumption. The investigations show that the goat meat third after mutton and beef, it’s especially consumed by the indigenous population located in the Mountain and steep area. The second part of this review treats nutritional quality of this meat by the quantification of the chemical composition, including fat profile, and establishes a link between animal age and the values of these parameters. Moisture, fat contents, and cholesterol levels varied with age. Because of the decreasing level of cholesterol in the Chevon meat, it is more recommended for consumption to prevent or reduce the incidence of coronary disease and heart attack.

Keywords: biochemical composition, cholesterol, goat meat, heart attack

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Authors: James Banda, Jupiter Simbeye, Essau Chisale, Geoffrey Kanyerere, Kings Kamtambe

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Improved solar tent dryers for processing small fish species were designed to reduce post-harvest fish losses and improve supply of quality fish products in the southern part of Lake Malawi under CultiAF project. A comparative analysis of the quality of Diplotaxodon (Ndunduma) from Lake Malawi processed in solar tent dryer and open sun drying was conducted using proximate analysis, microbial analysis and sensory evaluation. Proximates for solar tent dried fish and open sun dried fish in terms of proteins, fats, moisture and ash were 63.3±0.15% and 63.3±0.34%, 19.6±0.09% and 19.9±0.25%, 8.3±0.12% and 17.0±0.01%, and 15.6±0.61% and 21.9±0.91% respectively. Crude protein and crude fat showed non-significant differences (p = 0.05), while moisture and ash content were significantly different (p = 001). Open sun dried fish had significantly higher numbers of viable bacteria counts (5.2×10⁶ CFU) than solar tent dried fish (3.9×10² CFU). Most isolated bacteria from solar tent dried and open sun dried fish were 1.0×10¹ and 7.2×10³ for Total coliform, 0 and 4.5 × 10³ for Escherishia coli, 0 and 7.5 × 10³ for Salmonella, 0 and 5.7×10² for shigella, 4.0×10¹ and 6.1×10³ for Staphylococcus, 1.0×10¹ and 7.0×10² for vibrio. Qualitative evaluation of sensory properties showed higher acceptability of 3.8 for solar tent dried fish than 1.7 for open sun dried fish. It is concluded that promotion of solar tent drying in processing small fish species in Malawi would support small-scale fish processors to produce quality fish in terms of nutritive value, reduced microbial contamination, sensory acceptability and reduced moisture content.

Keywords: diplotaxodon, Malawi, open sun drying, solar tent drying

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Authors: M. Aboalazayem, Essam A. Gouda, Ahmed M. Moussa, Amr E. Flifl

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Field data collecting is considered one of the most difficult work due to the difficulty of accessing large zones such as large lakes. Also, it is well known that the cost of obtaining field data is very expensive. Remotely monitoring of lake water quality (WQ) provides an economically feasible approach comparing to field data collection. Researchers have shown that lake WQ can be properly monitored via Remote sensing (RS) analyses. Using satellite images as a method of WQ detection provides a realistic technique to measure quality parameters across huge areas. Landsat (LS) data provides full free access to often occurring and repeating satellite photos. This enables researchers to undertake large-scale temporal comparisons of parameters related to lake WQ. Satellite measurements have been extensively utilized to develop algorithms for predicting critical water quality parameters (WQPs). The goal of this paper is to use RS to derive WQ indicators in Aswan High Dam Reservoir (AHDR), which is considered Egypt's primary and strategic reservoir of freshwater. This study focuses on using Landsat8 (L-8) band surface reflectance (SR) observations to predict water-quality characteristics which are limited to Turbidity (TUR), total suspended solids (TSS), and chlorophyll-a (Chl-a). ArcGIS pro is used to retrieve L-8 SR data for the study region. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to derive new correlations between observed optical water-quality indicators in April and L-8 SR which were atmospherically corrected by values of various bands, band ratios, and or combinations. Field measurements taken in the month of May were used to validate WQP obtained from SR data of L-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) satellite. The findings demonstrate a strong correlation between indicators of WQ and L-8 .For TUR, the best validation correlation with OLI SR bands blue, green, and red, were derived with high values of Coefficient of correlation (R2) and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) equal 0.96 and 3.1 NTU, respectively. For TSS, Two equations were strongly correlated and verified with band ratios and combinations. A logarithm of the ratio of blue and green SR was determined to be the best performing model with values of R2 and RMSE equal to 0.9861 and 1.84 mg/l, respectively. For Chl-a, eight methods were presented for calculating its value within the study area. A mix of blue, red, shortwave infrared 1(SWR1) and panchromatic SR yielded the greatest validation results with values of R2 and RMSE equal 0.98 and 1.4 mg/l, respectively.

Keywords: remote sensing, landsat 8, nasser lake, water quality

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Authors: M. Dakshayini, P. Jayarekha

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In traditional output-based education system, class room lecture and laboratory are the traditional delivery methods used during the course. Written examination and lab examination have been used as a conventional tool for evaluating student’s performance. Hence, there are certain apprehensions that the traditional education system may not efficiently prepare the students for competent professional life. This has led for the change from Traditional output-based education to Outcome-Based Education (OBE). OBE first sets the ideal programme learning outcome consecutively on increasing degree of complexity that students are expected to master. The core curriculum, teaching methodologies and assessment tools are then designed to achieve the proposed outcomes mainly focusing on what students can actually attain after they are taught. In this paper, we discuss a promising applications based learning and evaluation component involving industry collaboration to improve the quality of teaching and student learning process. Incorporation of this component definitely improves the quality of student learning in engineering education and helps the student to attain the competency as per the graduate attributes. This may also reduce the Industry-academia gap.

Keywords: outcome-based education, programme learning outcome, teaching-learning process, evaluation, industry collaboration

Procedia PDF Downloads 445

Authors: U. Pangnakorn, S. Chuenchooklin

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Effect of biopesticide from wood vinegar and extracted substances from 3 medicinal plants such as: non taai yak (Stemona tuberosa Lour), boraphet (Tinospora crispa Mier) and derris (Derris elliptica Roxb) were tested on the age five years of pomelo. The selected pomelo was carried out for insects pest control and its quality. The experimental site was located at farmer’s orchard in Phichit Province, Thailand. This study was undertaken during the drought season (December to March). The extracted from plants and wood vinegar were evaluated in 6 treatments: 1) water as control; 2) wood vinegar; 3) S. tuberosa Lour; 4) T. crispa Mier; 5) D. elliptica Roxb; 6) mixed (wood vinegar + S. tuberosa Lour + T. crispa Mier + D. elliptica Roxb). The experiment was RCB with 6 treatments and 3 replications per treatment. The results showed that T. crispa Mier was the highest effectiveness for reduction population of thrips (Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood) and citrus leaf miner (Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton) at 14.10 and 15.37 respectively, followed by treatment of mixed, D. elliptica Roxb, S. tuberosa Lour and wood vinegar with significance different. Additionally, T. crispa Mier promoted the high quality of harvested pomelo in term of thickness of skin at 12.45 mm and S. tuberosa Lour gave the high quality of the pomelo in term of firmness (276.5 kg/cm2) and brix (11.0%).

Keywords: wood vinegar, medicinal plants, Pomelo (Citrus maxima Merr.), Thrips (Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood), citrus leaf miner (Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton)

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Authors: Cristina Sanchez-Sanchez

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Although there seems to be a growing interest in the study of the citizen’s happiness as an alternative measure of a country’s progress to GDP, happiness as a public concern is still an ambiguous concept, hard to define. Moreover, different notions are used indiscriminately to talk about the same thing. This investigation aims to determine the conceptions of happiness, well-being and quality of life that originate from the indexes that different governments and public institutions around the world have created to study them. Through the Scoping Review method, this study identifies the recent academic research in this field (a total of 267 documents between 2006 and 2016) from some of the most popular social sciences databases around the world, Web of Science, Scopus, JSTOR, Sage, EBSCO, IBSS and Google Scholar, and in Spain, ISOC and Dialnet. These 267 documents referenced 53 different indexes and researches. The Grounded Theory method has been applied to a sample of 13 indexes in order to identify the main categories they use to determine these three concepts. The results show that these are multi-dimensional concepts and similar indicators are used indistinctly to measure happiness, well-being and quality of life.

Keywords: common good, grounded theory, happiness economics, happiness index, quality of life, scoping review, well-being

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Authors: M. Benhamza, M. Touati, M. Aissaoui

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The Guelma-Bouchegouf irrigated area is located in the north-east of the country; it extends about 80 km. It was commissioned in 1996, with an irrigable area of 9250 ha, it spreads on both banks of the Seybouse Wadi and it is subdivided into five autonomous distribution sectors. In order to assess the state of groundwater quality, physico-chemical and organic analyzes were carried out during the low water period in November 2017, at the level of fourteen wells in the Guelma-Bouchegouf irrigation area. The interpretation of the results of the chemical analyzes shows that the waters of the study area belong to two dominant chemical facies: sulphated-chlorinated-calcium and Sulfated-chlorinated-sodium. The mineral quality of the groundwater in the study area shows that Ca²⁺, Cl⁻ and SO₄²⁻ indicate little to significant pollution, Na⁺ and Mg²⁺ show moderate to significant mineralization of water, closely correlated with very high conductivities. NO₃⁻ and NH⁴⁺ show little to significant pollution throughout the study area. Phosphate represents a significant pollution, with excessive values exceeding the allowable standard. Phosphate concentrations indicate pollution caused by agricultural practices in the irrigated area, following the use of phosphates in the form of chemical fertilizers or pesticides.

Keywords: Algeria, groundwater, irrigated perimeter, pollution

Procedia PDF Downloads 117

Authors: Ladislas Havugimana, Véronique Zinnen, Mary Hadley, Jean Claude Mwumvaneza, Francois Régis Habarugira, Silas Rudasingwa, Victor Ndaruhutse, Evelyne Bocquet

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Rwanda's health systems face various challenges, including low health infrastructure coverage (the objective is to have at least one health center per administrative sector) and insufficient qualified human resources for infrastructure maintenance and financing. Moreover, there is no policy for the preventive maintenance of infrastructures for the health sector. This paper presents action research conducted in seven districts, focusing on the impact of health infrastructure's quality on maternal and neonatal care, with the support of the Belgian cooperation agency through Enable Barame project.

Keywords: health infrastructure, maintenance, maternity, neonatology

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: Yu-Wen Lin, Chin-Sheng Tang, Wan-Yi Chen

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Various biological specimens, drugs, and chemicals exist in the hospital. The medical staffs and hypersensitive inpatients expose might expose to multiple hazards while they work or stay in the hospital. Therefore, the indoor air quality (IAQ) of the hospital should be paid more attention. Respiratory care wards (RCW) are responsible for caring the patients who cannot spontaneously breathe without the ventilators. The patients in RCW are easy to be infected. Compared to the bacteria concentrations of other hospital units, RCW came with higher values in other studies. This research monitored the IAQ of the RCW and checked the compliances of the indoor air quality standards of Taiwan Indoor Air Quality Act. Meanwhile, the influential factors of IAQ and the impacts of ventilator modules, with humidifier or with filter, were investigated. The IAQ of two five-bed wards and one nurse station of a RCW in a regional hospital were monitored. The monitoring was proceeded for 16 hours or 24 hours during the sampling days with a sampling frequency of 20 minutes per hour. The monitoring was performed for two days in a row and the AIQ of the RCW were measured for eight days in total. The concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxide (NOₓ), total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), relative humidity (RH) and temperature were measured by direct reading instruments. The bioaerosol samples were taken hourly. The hourly air change rate (ACH) was calculated by measuring the air ventilation volume. Human activities were recorded during the sampling period. The linear mixed model (LMM) was applied to illustrate the impact factors of IAQ. The concentrations of CO, CO₂, PM, bacterial and fungi exceeded the Taiwan IAQ standards. The major factors affecting the concentrations of CO, PM₁ and PM₂.₅ were location and the number of inpatients. The significant factors to alter the CO₂ and TVOC concentrations were location and the numbers of in-and-out staff and inpatients. The number of in-and-out staff and the level of activity affected the PM₁₀ concentrations statistically. The level of activity and the numbers of in-and-out staff and inpatients are the significant factors in changing the bacteria and fungi concentrations. Different models of the patients’ ventilators did not affect the IAQ significantly. The results of LMM can be utilized to predict the pollutant concentrations under various environmental conditions. The results of this study would be a valuable reference for air quality management of RCW.

Keywords: respiratory care ward, indoor air quality, linear mixed model, bioaerosol

Procedia PDF Downloads 103

Authors: Abeer Heider

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The article considers the definitions of teacher’s competences and professionalism from different perspectives of Arab and foreign scientists. A special attention is paid to the definition, classification of the stages and components of University Arabic /foreign language teacher’s professionalism. The results of the survey are offered and recommendations are given. In this paper, only some of the problems of defining professional competence and professionalism of the university Arabic/ foreign language teacher have been mentioned. It needs much more analysis and discussion, because the quality of training today’s competitive and mobile students with a good knowledge of foreign languages depends directly on the teachers’ professional level.

Keywords: teacher’s professional competences, Arabic/ foreign language teacher’s professionalism, teacher evaluation, teacher quality

Procedia PDF Downloads 446