Search results for: urban environmental quality

Authors: Frank Frimpong Opuni, Michael Mba Allan, Kwame Adu-Gyamfi, Michael Sarkodie Baffoe

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This paper assesses the effect of relationship marketing on service quality and customer satisfaction from the perspective of the moderating role of emotional intelligence in the insurance industry in Ghana. A descriptive quantitative research technique was employed. A random sample of 384 each of customers and service providers in 3 insurance firms in Accra were used as the source of data. According to findings, emotional intelligence makes a strong positive effect on relationship marketing at 5% significance level, r (283) = .817, p = .000. Though relationship marketing makes a strong positive effect on service quality (r = .767, p < .05) and customer satisfaction (r = .647, p < .05), this effect becomes insignificant (p > .05) when the effect of emotional intelligence on relationship marketing is controlled for. It is therefore recommended that insurance firms give priority to equipping their relationship employees with emotional intelligence to maximise service quality and customer satisfaction.

Keywords: relationship marketing, service quality, customer satisfaction, emotional intelligence

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Authors: Zory Marantz

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Hybrid flexible (HyFlex) is a pedagogical methodology whereby an instructor delivers content in three modalities, i.e. live in-person (LIP), live online synchronous (LOS), and non-live online asynchronous (nLOaS). HyFlex is focused on providing the largest level of flexibility needed to achieve a cohesive environment across all modalities and incorporating four basic principles – learner’s choice, reusability, accessibility, and equivalency. Much literature has focused on the advantages of this methodology in providing students with the flexibility to choose their learning modality as best suits their schedules and learning styles. Initially geared toward graduate-level students, the concept has been applied to undergraduate studies, particularly during our national pedagogical response to the COVID19 pandemic. There is still little literature about the practicality and feasibility of HyFlex for hardware laboratory intensive engineering technology programs, particularly in dense, urban commuter institutions of higher learning. During a semester of engineering, a lab-based course was taught in the HyFlex modality, and students were asked to complete a survey about their experience. The data demonstrated that there is no single mode that is preferred by a majority of students and the usefulness of any modality is limited to how familiar the student and instructor are with the technology being applied. The technology is only as effective as our understanding and comfort with its functionality. For HyFlex to succeed in its implementation in an engineering technology environment within an urban commuter institution, faculty and students must be properly introduced to the technology being used.

Keywords: education, HyFlex, technology, urban, commuter, pedagogy

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Authors: Ari Istiany, Guspri Devi Artanti, M. Si

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Based on the results Riskesdas, it is known that breastfeeding awareness about the importance of exclusive breastfeeding is still low at only 15.3 %. These conditions resulted in a very infant at risk for infectious diseases, such as diarrhea and acute respiratory infection. Therefore, the aim of this study to evaluate the video development about exclusive breastfeeding as a nutrition education media for posyandu cadre. This research used development methods for making the video about exclusive breastfeeding. The study was conducted in urban areas Rawamangun, East Jakarta. Respondents of this study were 1 media experts from the Department of Educational Technology - UNJ, 2 subject matter experts from Department of Home Economics - UNJ and 20 posyandu cadres to assess the quality of the video. Aspects assessed include the legibility of text, image display quality, color composition, clarity of sound, music appropriateness, duration, suitability of the material and language. Data were analyzed descriptively likes frequency distribution table, the average value, and deviation standard. The result of this study showed that the average score assessment according to media experts, subject matter experts, and posyandu cadres respectively was 3.43 ± 0.51 (good), 4.37 ± 0.52 (very good) and 3.6 ± 0.73 (good). The conclusion is on exclusive breastfeeding video as feasible as a media for nutrition education. While suggestions for the improvement of visual media is multiply illustrations, add material about the correct way of breastfeeding and healthy baby pictures.

Keywords: exclusive breastfeeding, posyandu cadre, video, nutrition education

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Authors: Lorenzo Maiorino, Fabio Fortuna, Giovanni Panebianco, Marco Sanzari, Gabriella Arcese, Valerio Maria Paolozzi

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It is well known that sport is a factor of social cohesion and the breaking down of barriers between people. From this point of view, the aim is to demonstrate how, through the (re)generation of sustainable structures, it is possible to give life to a new social, cultural, and economic pathway, where possible, in peripheral areas with problems of abandonment and degradation. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to study realities such as European programs and funds and to highlight the ways in which planning can be used to respond to critical issues such as urban decay, abandonment, and the mitigation of social differences. For this reason, the analysis will be carried out through the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) package, the Next Generation EU, the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the Cohesion Fund, the European Social Fund, and other managed funds. The procedure will rely on sources and data of unquestionable origin, and the relation to the object of study in question will be highlighted. The project lends itself to be ambitious and exploring a further aspect of the sports theme, which, as we know, is one of the foundations for a healthy society.

Keywords: sport, social inclusion, urban regeneration, sports facilities, European funds

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Authors: Mohamed Belhorma, Aboubakar S. Bouchikhi, Belkacem Bounab

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This paper addresses modeling a Double A-Arm suspension, a three-dimensional nonlinear model has been developed using the multibody systems formalism. Dynamical study of the different components responses was done, particularly for the wheel assembly. To validate those results, the system was constructed and simulated by RecurDyn, a professional multibody dynamics simulation software. The model has been used as the Objectif function in an optimization algorithm for ride quality improvement.

Keywords: double A-Arm suspension, multibody systems, ride quality optimization, dynamic simulation

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Authors: Xian Chen

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In recent years, the tendency that the decline of material and social vitality of old city in China becomes more and more serious. Nowadays, transformation and renewal of the old city have become a hot topic in urban research. The traditional mode of large-scale promotion has been criticized. Thus, exploration of new ways to update the city turns to be a necessity on the way of sustainable urban development. Pocket Park is a small city open space, its location choose is based on abandoned or idle lands on urban structure, is scattered or hidden in corner of the urban. It has a great significance on improving the old city environment. Based on the theory of ‘pocket park’, this paper summarizes the successful experience of domestic and foreign practice, and discusses the update strategies which are suitable for China's national conditions according to the characteristics and predicament of the old city in China. The main methods and results are as follows: 1)Based on the conception of ‘pocket park’, though describing the research status in domestic and foreign, summarizing the experience which is worth learning and existing problems. 2) From the analysis of ‘pocket park’ function, general design principles and types of the deep-seated difficulties in renewal the old city and the possibility of the application of ‘pocket park’,the varied implementation of ‘pocket park’ form are established, and application value in the old city renewal are summed up. 3) It can’t be denied that pocket park plays an irreplaceable role in solving the recession and renewing the vitality of the old city. Anymore, It is recommended to develop corresponding supportive development policies.

Keywords: sustainable development, strategy, old city renewal, pocket park

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Authors: Ágota Ladó

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Miercurea Ciuc is a town in the historical region of Szeklerland in Transylvania, Romania, with a predominantly Hungarian population (its name in Hungarian being Csíkszereda) having an urban landscape and environment that has been shaped dramatically by different perceptions of urbanization during the history. The town has been part of Hungary and the Austro-Hungarian Empire before the First World War. It even got an important role, becoming in 1876 the seat and administrative center of the historical Csík county. This marks the beginning of the first urbanization process: new administrative buildings, railways, a railway station, a hospital, a Redoute and new schools have been built, new streets have been opened. However, not only the public facilities have changed: the center of the town with its private houses has also transformed, new, modern decorative and lifestyle elements have appeared. One of the streets from the town center, Kossuth street, has been featured on many postcards of the time; even a novel has mentioned it as a symbol of modern urbanization. Right after the First World War, the town became part of Romania and aside from a short interruption (between 1940 and 1944), it is still part of it. The beginning of the second major urbanization process – exactly one hundred years later - is marked by the visit of the communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu in Miercurea Ciuc on the 6th of October 1976. In the upcoming years, he decided and started to demolish the old Kossuth street and to construct a new avenue with tall blocks of flats according to the principles of socialist urbanization. No other Transylvanian settlement has gone through such systematic abolition of its historical center and urban history during the Communist era. Not only the urban landscape has been affected. The collective memory and contemporary identity of the locals are also violated by this recent transformation of the town: important spaces, buildings, venues of activities and events simply cannot be localized, thus understood - by the younger generations.

Keywords: communist era, historical urban landscape, urban identity, urbanization

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Authors: Meki Detamo, Ahmed

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Access to improved sanitation facilities is crucial for promoting community sanitation worldwide. In Ethiopia, however, sanitation remains a major development challenge despite growing attention and efforts by governments and donors. This study aimed to assess the availability of improved sanitation facilities and associated factors in urban kebeles of Dire Dawa City, Eastern Ethiopia, in 2022. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 6 to 30, 2022, using a multi-stage sampling technique to select 508 households. Data was collected through structured and pre-tested questionnaires using face-to-face interviews and observations and analyzed using SPSS Version 23. The availability of improved sanitation facilities was found to be remarkably high at 98.2% (95% CI: 97.0, 99.2), with 60.8% of households having a handwashing facility in or around the latrine, 86.0% using soap and water, and 89.0% using an improved water source for drinking. Logistic regression analysis revealed that households with a family size of less than four, those who owned their own house, and those who had self-initiated latrine construction were significantly associated with the availability of improved sanitation facilities. The study recommends the implementation of continuous refreshment training to emphasize the benefits of improved sanitation facilities in the urban community and family planning. This study provides valuable insights into the high availability of improved sanitation facilities in urban areas of Ethiopia and can inform future efforts to improve community sanitation.

Keywords: sanitation facilities, availability, improved, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia

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Authors: Abiola O. Temitayo-Oboh, Olugbenga L. Abodunrin, Wasiu O. Adebimpe, Micheal C. Asuzu

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Introduction: Many women who are sexually active would prefer to avoid becoming pregnant but are not using any method of contraception. These women are considered to have an unmet need for contraception. In an ideal situation, all women who want to space or limit their births and are exposed to the risk of conception would use some kind of conception; in practice, however, some women fail to use contraception which put them at risk of having mistimed or unwanted births, induced abortion, or maternal death. This study, therefore, aimed to assess the determinants of unmet need for contraception among currently married women in rural and urban communities of Osun State, South-West Nigeria. Methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional comparative study, which was carried out among currently married women. Three hundred and twenty respondents each were selected for the rural and urban groups from four Local Government Areas using multi-stage sampling technique. Data were collected using a pre-tested semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire and focus group discussion (FGD) guide; data analysis was done with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0 and detailed content analysis method respectively. Statistical analysis of the difference between proportions was done by the use of the Chi-square test and T-test was used to compare the means of the continuous variables. The study also utilized descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analytical techniques to examine the effect of some variables on unmet need. Level of statistical significance was set at p-value < 0.05 for all values. Results: Two hundred and ninety-six (92.5%) of the rural and 306 (95.6%) of the urban study population had heard of contraception, 365 (57.0 %) of the total respondents had good knowledge [162 (50.6 %) for rural respondents and 203 (63.4 %) for urban respondents]. This difference was statistically significant (p < 0.001). Five hundred and twenty-one (81.4%) respondents had a positive attitude towards contraception [243 (75.9%) in the rural and 278 (86.9%) in the urban area], and the difference was also statistically significant (p < 0.001). Only 47 (14.7%) and 59 (18.4%) of rural and urban women were current contraceptive users respectively. The total unmet need for contraception among rural women was 138 (43.1%) of which 82 (25.6%) was for spacing and 56 (17.5%), for limiting. While the total unmet need for contraception among urban women was 145 (45.3%) of which 96 (30.0%) was for spacing and 49 (15.3%) for limiting. Number of living children, knowledge of contraceptive methods, discussion with health workers about family planning, couples discussion about family planning and availability of family planning services were found to be predictors of women’s unmet need for contraception (p < 0.05). Conclusion: It is, therefore, recommended that there is need to intensify reproductive health education in bridging the knowledge gap, improving attitude and modifying practices regarding use of contraception in Nigeria. Hence, this will help to enhance the utilization of family planning services among Nigerian women.

Keywords: contraception, married women, Nigeria, rural, urban, unmet need

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Authors: Stephanie Aguirre Moreno, Jesús Everardo Olguín Tiznado, Claudia Camargo Wilson, Juan Andrés López Barreras

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This research work presents a proposal to evaluate the environmental performance of a Higher Education Institution (HEI) in Mexico in order to minimize their environmental impact. Given that public education has limited financial resources, it is necessary to conduct studies that support priorities in decision-making situations and thus obtain the best cost-benefit ratio of continuous improvement programs as part of the environmental management system implemented. The methodology employed, adapted from the Environmental Effect Analysis (EEA), weighs the environmental aspects identified in the environmental diagnosis by two characteristics. Number one, environmental priority through the perception of the stakeholders, compliance of legal requirements, and environmental impact of operations. Number two, the possibility of improvement, which depends of factors such as the exchange rate that will be made, the level of investment and the return time of it. The highest environmental priorities, or hot spots, identified in this evaluation were: electricity consumption, water consumption and recycling, and disposal of municipal solid waste. However, the possibility of improvement for the disposal of municipal solid waste is higher, followed by water consumption and recycling, in spite of having an equal possibility of improvement to the energy consumption, time of return and cost-benefit is much greater.

Keywords: environmental performance, environmental priority, possibility of improvement, continuous improvement programs

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Authors: Mary L. G. S. Senna, Veruska, C. Dutra, Jr., Keity L. F. Oliveira, Patrícia A. Santos, Alana C. M. Santana

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Environmental impacts are the changes in the physical, chemical or biological properties of natural areas that are most often caused by human actions on the environment and which have consequences for human health, society and the elements of nature. The identification of the environmental impacts is important so that they are mitigated, and above all that the mitigating measures are applied in the area. This work aims to identify the environmental impacts generated in the Praia do Caju area in the city of Palmas/Brazil and show that the lack of structure on the beach intensifies the environmental impacts. The present work was carried out having as parameter, the typologies of exploratory and descriptive and quantitative research through a matrix of environmental impacts through direct observation and registration. The study took place during the holidays from August to December 2016 and photographic record of impacts. From the collected data it was possible to verify that Caju beach suffers constant degradation due to irregular deposition.

Keywords: leisure, tourism, environmental impacts, Brazil

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Authors: Nuzhat Sultana M. B.

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Children are high-risk population in terms of food born illnesses. Food safety and security are the most important aspect of the success of midday meal programmes. Improper holding temperatures, cross-contamination and poor personal hygiene of food handlers are the main causes for the prevalence of pathogenic microbes in the food servicing areas. Two hundred and fifty preschool children in the age of 3 to 6 years from urban and rural anganwadies (pre school center) of Beed district were selected. Nutritional status of preschool children were assessed by anthropometrical and clinical measurement. The study assessed the food safety and security with the help of personal hygiene and other safety measures maintained by the food personnel working for midday meal programme, supplying mid meals to children in govt. anganwadies (pre school center). The hygiene level, sanitary condition and microbial quality of food and water, pathological health examination of food handlers were assessed with the help of checklist. A questionnaire was designed to evaluate knowledge, attitude, and practices of food handlers. Results of the study show that the nutritional and health status of rural and urban preschool children was very poor. Many of the food handlers were not aware of general knowledge and hygiene practices to be followed during food preparation areas. An intervention programme of education and importing training at workplaces has shown a positive impact on the outcome of safety and security practices and safe, hygienic practices of food handlers at workplace.

Keywords: food, health, preschool children, safety, security

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Authors: Camille Van Eupen, Dirk Maes, Marc Herremans, Kristijn R. R. Swinnen, Ben Somers, Stijn Luca

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In ecology, species distribution models are commonly implemented to study species-environment relationships. These models increasingly rely on opportunistic citizen science data when high-quality species records collected through standardized recording protocols are unavailable. While these opportunistic data are abundant, uncertainty is usually high, e.g., due to observer effects or a lack of metadata. Data quality filtering is often used to reduce these types of uncertainty in an attempt to increase the value of studies relying on opportunistic data. However, filtering should not be performed blindly. In this study, recommendations are built for data quality filtering of opportunistic species occurrence data that are used as input for species distribution models. Using an extensive database of 5.7 million citizen science records from 255 species in Flanders, the impact on model performance was quantified by applying three data quality filters, and these results were linked to species traits. More specifically, presence records were filtered based on record attributes that provide information on the observation process or post-entry data validation, and changes in the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity were analyzed using the Maxent algorithm with and without filtering. Controlling for sample size enabled us to study the combined impact of data quality filtering, i.e., the simultaneous impact of an increase in data quality and a decrease in sample size. Further, the variation among species in their response to data quality filtering was explored by clustering species based on four traits often related to data quality: commonness, popularity, difficulty, and body size. Findings show that model performance is affected by i) the quality of the filtered data, ii) the proportional reduction in sample size caused by filtering and the remaining absolute sample size, and iii) a species ‘quality profile’, resulting from a species classification based on the four traits related to data quality. The findings resulted in recommendations on when and how to filter volunteer generated and opportunistically collected data. This study confirms that correctly processed citizen science data can make a valuable contribution to ecological research and species conservation.

Keywords: citizen science, data quality filtering, species distribution models, trait profiles

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Authors: Sahar Shahsavaripour Ghazanfarpour

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As our daily life depends on quality of built services by systems and using devices in our environment; so education and model of software′s quality will be so important. By daily growth in software′s systems and using them so much, progressing process and requirements′ evaluation in primary level of progress especially architecture level in software get more important. Modern driver architecture changes an in dependent model of a level into some specific models that their purpose is reducing number of software changes into an executive model. Process of designing software engineering is mid-automated. The needed quality attribute in designing architecture and quality attribute in representation are in architecture models. The main problem is the relationship between needs, and elements in some aspect with implicit models and input sources in process. It’s because there is no detection ability. The MART profile is use to describe real-time properties and perform plat form modeling.

Keywords: MDA, DW, OMG, UML, AKB, software architecture, ontology, evaluation

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Authors: Yu-Hsin Tsai

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A new, mandated county regional plan system has been initiated since 2010 nationwide in Taiwan, with its role situated in-between the policy-led cross-county regional plan and the blueprint-led city plan. This new regional plan contain both urban and rural areas in one single plan, which provides a more complete planning territory, i.e., city region within the county’s jurisdiction, and to be executed and managed effectively by the county government. However, the full picture of its functions and characteristics seems still not totally clear, compared with other levels of plans; either are planning goals and issues that can be most appropriately dealt with at this spatial scale. In addition, the extent to which the inclusion of sustainability ideal and measures to cope with climate change are unclear. Based on the above issues, this study aims to clarify the roles of county regional plan, to analyze the extent to which the measures cope with sustainability, climate change, and forecasted declining population, and the success factors and issues faced in the planning process. The methodology applied includes literature review, plan quality evaluation, and interview with officials of the central and local governments and urban planners involved for all the 23 counties in Taiwan. The preliminary research results show, first, growth management related policies have been widely implemented and expected to have effective impact, including incorporating resources capacity to determine maximum population for the city region as a whole, developing overall vision of urban growth boundary for all the whole city region, prioritizing infill development, and use of architectural land within urbanized area over rural area to cope with urban growth. Secondly, planning-oriented zoning is adopted in urban areas, while demand-oriented planning permission is applied in the rural areas with designated plans. Then, public participation has been evolved to the next level to oversee all of government’s planning and review processes due to the decreasing trust in the government, and development of public forum on the internet etc. Next, fertile agricultural land is preserved to maintain food self-supplied goal for national security concern. More adoption-based methods than mitigation-based methods have been applied to cope with global climate change. Finally, better land use and transportation planning in terms of avoiding developing rail transit stations and corridor in rural area is promoted. Even though many promising, prompt measures have been adopted, however, challenges exist to surround: first, overall urban density, likely affecting success of UGB, or use of rural agricultural land, has not been incorporated, possibly due to implementation difficulties. Second, land-use related measures to mitigating climate change seem less clear and hence less employed. Smart decline has not drawn enough attention to cope with predicted population decrease in the next decade. Then, some reluctance from county’s government to implement county regional plan can be observed vaguely possibly since limits have be set on further development on agricultural land and sensitive areas. Finally, resolving issue on existing illegal factories on agricultural land remains the most challenging dilemma.

Keywords: city region plan, sustainability, global climate change, growth management

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Authors: Alaa Alateeqi, Sara Aldhulaiee, Sara Alibraheem, Noura Alsaleh

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For the past few decades or so, Kuwait's local food industry has grown remarkably due to increase in demand for processed or semi processed food products in the market. It is important that the ever increasing food manufacturing/processing units maintain the required quality standards as per regional and to some extent international quality requirements. It has been realized that all Kuwait food manufacturing units should understand and follow the international standard practices, and moreover a set of guidelines must be set for quality assurance such that any new business in this area is aware of the minimum requirements. The current study has been undertaken to identify the gaps in Kuwait food industries in following the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) in terms of quality planning, control and quality assurance. GMP refers to Good Manufacturing Practices, which are a set of rules, laws or regulations that certify producing products within quality standards and ensuring that it is safe, pure and effective. The present study therefore reports about a ‘case study’ in a reputed food manufacturing unit in Kuwait; starting from assessment of the current practices followed by diagnosis, report of the diagnosis and road map and corrective measures for GMP implementation in the unit. The case study has also been able to identify the best practices and establish a benchmarking data for other companies to follow, through measuring the selected company's quality, policies, products and strategies and compare it with the established benchmarking data. A set of questionnaires and assessment mechanism has been established for companies to identify their ‘benchmarking score’ in relation to the number of non-conformities and conformities with the GMP standard requirements.

Keywords: good manufacturing practices, GMP, benchmarking, Kuwait Food Industries, food quality

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Authors: Shengjun Yan, Xuan Wang

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Water level changes in a shallow lake always introduce dramatic land pattern changes. To achieve sustainable ecosystem service, it is necessary to evaluate habitat quality dynamic and its spatio-temporal variation resulted from water level changes, which can provide a scientific basis for protection of biodiversity and planning of wetland ecological system. Landsat data in the spring was chosen to obtain landscape data at different times based on the high, moderate and low water level of Baiyangdian Shallow Lake. We used the InVEST to evaluate the habitat quality, habitat degradation, and habitat scarcity. The result showed that: 1) the water level of shallow lake changes from high to low lead to an obvious landscape pattern changes and habitat degradation, 2) the most change area occurred in northwestward and southwest of Baiyangdian Shallow Lake, which there was a 21 percent of suitable habitat and 42 percent of moderately suitable habitat lost. Our findings show that the changes of water level in the shallow lake would have a strong relationship with the habitat quality.

Keywords: habitat quality, habitat degradation, water level changes, shallow lake

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Authors: Modreck Gomo

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The evolution of groundwater chemistry and its quality is largely controlled by hydrogeochemical processes and their understanding is therefore important for groundwater quality assessments and protection of the water resources. A study was conducted in Bloemfontein town of South Africa to assess and compare the groundwater chemistry and quality characteristics in an alluvial aquifer and single-plane fractured-rock aquifers. 9 groundwater samples were collected from monitoring boreholes drilled into the two aquifer systems during a once-off sampling exercise. Samples were collected through low-flow purging technique and analysed for major ions and trace elements. In order to describe the hydrochemical facies and identify dominant hydrogeochemical processes, the groundwater chemistry data are interpreted using stiff diagrams and principal component analysis (PCA), as complimentary tools. The fitness of the groundwater quality for domestic and irrigation uses is also assessed. Results show that the alluvial aquifer is characterised by a Na-HCO₃ hydrochemical facie while fractured-rock aquifer has a Ca-HCO₃ facie. The groundwater in both aquifers originally evolved from the dissolution of calcite rocks that are common on land surface environments. However the groundwater in the alluvial aquifer further goes through another evolution as driven by cation exchange process in which Na in the sediments exchanges with Ca²⁺ in the Ca-HCO₃ hydrochemical type to result in the Na-HCO₃ hydrochemical type. Despite the difference in the hydrogeochemical processes between the alluvial aquifer and single-plane fractured-rock aquifer, this did not influence the groundwater quality. The groundwater in the two aquifers is very hard as influenced by the elevated magnesium and calcium ions that evolve from dissolution of carbonate minerals which typically occurs in surface environments. Based on total dissolved levels (600-900 mg/L), groundwater quality of the two aquifer systems is classified to be of fair quality. The negative potential impacts of the groundwater quality for domestic uses are highlighted.

Keywords: alluvial aquifer, fractured-rock aquifer, groundwater quality, hydrogeochemical processes

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Authors: Marta Wyzińska, Jerzy Grabiński, Alicja Sułek

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The grain quality is a decisive factor in its use. In Poland, spring wheat is characterized by more favorable quality parameters in relation to the winter form of this species. In the present study, the effects of three different sowing dates (autumn, delayed autumn, and spring) and cultivar (Tybalt, Cytra, Bombona, Monsun, and Parabola) on the selected technological value parameters of spring wheat over three years were studied. The field trials were carried out in two locations (Bezek, Czesławice) in the Lubelskie Vivodeship, Poland. It was found that the falling number of spring wheat grains from autumn sowing dates was at a similar level to wheat sown in spring. The amount of wet gluten in the grain was variable in years, and its quality was better in wheat sown in spring. Sedimentation index was dependent upon on the cultivar.

Keywords: Sowing term, spring wheat, technological value, quality

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Authors: H. M. Liman, Y. M. Suleiman A. A. David

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Poor air quality often considered one of the greatest environmental threats facing the world today is caused majorly by the emission of carbon monoxide into the atmosphere. The principal air pollutant is carbon monoxide. One prominent source of carbon monoxide emission is the transportation sector. Not much was known about the emission levels of carbon monoxide, the primary pollutant from the road transportation in the study area. Therefore, this study assessed the levels of carbon monoxide emission from road transportation in the Minna, Niger State. The database shows the carbon monoxide data collected. MSA Altair gas alert detector was used to take the carbon monoxide emission readings in Parts per Million for the peak and off-peak periods of vehicular movement at the road intersections. Their Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates were recorded in the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM). Bar chart graphs were plotted by using the emissions level of carbon dioxide as recorded on the field against the scientifically established internationally accepted safe limit of 8.7 Parts per Million of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere. Further statistical analysis was also carried out on the data recorded from the field using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software and Microsoft excel to show the variance of the emission levels of each of the parameters in the study area. The results established that emissions’ level of atmospheric carbon monoxide from the road transportation in the study area exceeded the internationally accepted safe limits of 8.7 parts per million. In addition, the variations in the average emission levels of CO between the four parameters showed that morning peak is having the highest average emission level of 24.5PPM followed by evening peak with 22.84PPM while morning off peak is having 15.33 and the least is evening off peak 12.94PPM. Based on these results, recommendations made for poor air quality mitigation via carbon monoxide emissions reduction from transportation include Introduction of the urban mass transit would definitely reduce the number of traffic on the roads, hence the emissions from several vehicles that would have been on the road. This would also be a cheaper means of transportation for the masses and Encouraging the use of vehicles using alternative sources of energy like solar, electric and biofuel will also result in less emission levels as the these alternative energy sources other than fossil fuel originated diesel and petrol vehicles do not emit especially carbon monoxide.

Keywords: carbon monoxide, climate change emissions, road transportation, vehicular

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Authors: Richard Okyere Boadu, Judith Obiri-Yeboah, Kwame Adu Okyere Boadu, Nathan Kumasenu Mensah, Grace Amoh-Agyei

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Routine health information system (RHIS) quality assurance has become an important issue, not only because of its significance in promoting a high standard of patient care but also because of its impact on government budgets for the maintenance of health services. A routine health information system comprises healthcare data collection, compilation, storage, analysis, report generation, and dissemination on a routine basis in various healthcare settings. The data from RHIS give a representation of health status, health services, and health resources. The sources of RHIS data are normally individual health records, records of services delivered, and records of health resources. Using reliable information from routine health information systems is fundamental in the healthcare delivery system. Quality assurance practices are measures that are put in place to ensure the health data that are collected meet required quality standards. Routine health information system quality assurance practices ensure that data that are generated from the system are fit for use. This study considered quality assurance practices in the RHIS processes. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in eight health facilities in Tarkwa Sub-Municipal Health Service in the western region of Ghana. The study involved routine quality assurance practices among the 90 health staff and management selected from facilities in Tarkwa Sub-Municipal who collected or used data routinely from 24th December 2019 to 20th January 2020. Results: Generally, Tarkwa Sub-Municipal health service appears to practice quality assurance during data collection, compilation, storage, analysis and dissemination. The results show some achievement in quality control performance in report dissemination (77.6%), data analysis (68.0%), data compilation (67.4%), report compilation (66.3%), data storage (66.3%) and collection (61.1%). Conclusions: Even though the Tarkwa Sub-Municipal Health Directorate engages in some control measures to ensure data quality, there is a need to strengthen the process to achieve the targeted percentage of performance (90.0%). There was a significant shortfall in quality assurance practices performance, especially during data collection, with respect to the expected performance.

Keywords: quality assurance practices, assessment of routine health information system quality, routine health information system, data quality

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Authors: Nermin A. Morsy, Amany N. Beshay

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The tourism industry has seen considerable transformations due to the emergency of e-commerce. For instance, airlines are increasingly dependent on achieving online sales instead of their traditional platform. Online travel agencies’ (OTAs) websites have been able to reach a broader range of customers and generate more revenue. Therefore, website quality plays an important role in attaining website effectiveness. It is now considered as a critical factor in attracting customers' attention and build loyalty. Customers are more likely to visit and purchase at websites that exhibit highly desirable qualities. A user-friendly website can help tourists find their target information easily and make decisions quickly. This research focuses on analyzing the impact of airline and OTAs’ websites quality on the actual customer usage and purchase intentions. An online survey was distributed among internet users to assess the various dimensions of website quality in the context of online booking and their effect on customer’s usage and purchase intentions. The data from the survey was analyzed statistically using correlation, t-tests and other statistical tests. Results revealed the direct impact of website quality on customer usage and purchase intentions.

Keywords: airlines, OTAs, purchasing intention, website quality

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Authors: Haritha Saranga

Abstract:

Service quality has become an important driver of competition in manufacturing industries of late, as many products are being sold in conjunction with service offerings. With increase in computational power and data capture capabilities, it has become possible to analyze and estimate various aspects of service quality at the granular level and determine their impact on business performance. In the current study context, dealer level, model-wise warranty data from one of the top two-wheeler manufacturers in India is used to estimate service quality of individual dealers and its impact on warranty related costs and sales performance. We collected primary data on warranty costs, number of complaints, monthly sales, type of quality upgrades, etc. from the two-wheeler automaker. In addition, we gathered secondary data on various regions in India, such as petrol and diesel prices, geographic and climatic conditions of various regions where the dealers are located, to control for customer usage patterns. We analyze this primary and secondary data with the help of a variety of analytics tools such as Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA), Seasonal ARIMA and ARIMAX. Study results, after controlling for a variety of factors, such as size, age, region of the dealership, and customer usage pattern, show that service quality does influence sales of the products in a significant manner. A more nuanced analysis reveals the dynamics between product quality and service quality, and how their interaction affects sales performance in the Indian two-wheeler industry context. We also provide various managerial insights using descriptive analytics and build a model that can provide sales projections using a variety of forecasting techniques.

Keywords: service quality, product quality, automobile industry, business analytics, auto-regressive integrated moving average

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Authors: Marc Bachelet, Abhijit Kumar Chatterjee, José Manuel Avila

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Data quality is a key component of any data-driven organization. Without data quality, organizations cannot effectively make data-driven decisions, which often leads to poor business performance. Therefore, it is important for an organization to ensure that the data they use is of high quality. This is where the concept of data mesh comes in. Data mesh is an organizational and architectural decentralized approach to data management that can help organizations improve the quality of data. The concept of data mesh was first introduced in 2020. Its purpose is to decentralize data ownership, making it easier for domain experts to manage the data. This can help organizations improve data quality by reducing the reliance on centralized data teams and allowing domain experts to take charge of their data. This paper intends to discuss how a set of elements, including data mesh, are tools capable of increasing data quality. One of the key benefits of data mesh is improved metadata management. In a traditional data architecture, metadata management is typically centralized, which can lead to data silos and poor data quality. With data mesh, metadata is managed in a decentralized manner, ensuring accurate and up-to-date metadata, thereby improving data quality. Another benefit of data mesh is the clarification of roles and responsibilities. In a traditional data architecture, data teams are responsible for managing all aspects of data, which can lead to confusion and ambiguity in responsibilities. With data mesh, domain experts are responsible for managing their own data, which can help provide clarity in roles and responsibilities and improve data quality. Additionally, data mesh can also contribute to a new form of organization that is more agile and adaptable. By decentralizing data ownership, organizations can respond more quickly to changes in their business environment, which in turn can help improve overall performance by allowing better insights into business as an effect of better reports and visualization tools. Monitoring and analytics are also important aspects of data quality. With data mesh, monitoring, and analytics are decentralized, allowing domain experts to monitor and analyze their own data. This will help in identifying and addressing data quality problems in quick time, leading to improved data quality. Data culture is another major aspect of data quality. With data mesh, domain experts are encouraged to take ownership of their data, which can help create a data-driven culture within the organization. This can lead to improved data quality and better business outcomes. Finally, the paper explores the contribution of AI in the coming years. AI can help enhance data quality by automating many data-related tasks, like data cleaning and data validation. By integrating AI into data mesh, organizations can further enhance the quality of their data. The concepts mentioned above are illustrated by AEKIDEN experience feedback. AEKIDEN is an international data-driven consultancy that has successfully implemented a data mesh approach. By sharing their experience, AEKIDEN can help other organizations understand the benefits and challenges of implementing data mesh and improving data quality.

Keywords: data culture, data-driven organization, data mesh, data quality for business success

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Authors: Marcus C. Garcia, Giselle C. Guimarães, Luciana H. Yamane, Renato R. Siman

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The environmental indicators and the classification of beach waste are essential tools to diagnose the current situation and to indicate ways to improve the quality of this environment. The purpose of this paper was to perform a quali-quantitative analysis of the beach waste on the Curva da Jurema Beach (Espírito Santo - Brazil). Three transects were used with equidistant positioning over the total length of the beach for the solid waste collection. Solid wastes were later classified according to their use and primary raw material from the low and high summer season. During the low season, average values of 7.10 items.m^-1, 18.22 g.m^-1 and 0.91 g.m^-2 were found for the whole beach, and transect 3 contributed the most waste, with the total sum of items equal to 999 (49%), a total mass of 5.62 kg and a total volume of 21.31 L. During the high summer season, average values of 8.22 items.m^-1, 54.40 g.m^-1 and 2.72 g.m^-2 were found, with transect 2 contributing the most to the total sum with 1,212 items (53%), a total mass of 10.76 kg and a total volume of 51.99 L. Of the total collected, plastic materials represented 51.4% of the total number of items, 35.9% of the total mass and 68% of the total volume. The implementation of reactive and proactive measures is necessary so that the management of the solid wastes on Curva da Jurema Beach is in accordance with principles of sustainability.

Keywords: beach solid waste, environmental indicators, quali-quantitative analysis, waste management

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Authors: Jung-Hsuan Hsu

Abstract:

Due to intense competition within the industry, companies have increasingly recognized partnerships with other companies. In addition, with outsourcing and globalization of the supply chain, it leads to companies' increasing reliance on external resources. Consequently, supply chain network becomes complex, so that it reduces the visibility of the manufacturing process. Therefore, this study is going to focus on the impact of supply chain relationship quality (SCRQ) on cooperative strategy and visibility. Questionnaire survey is going to be conducted as research method, using the organic food industry as the research subject, and the sampling method is random sampling. Finally, the data analysis will use SPSS statistical software and AMOS software to analyze and verify the hypothesis. The expected results in this study is to evaluate the supply chain relationship quality between Taiwan's food manufacturing and their suppliers regarding whether it has a positive impact for the persistence, frequency and diversity of cooperative strategy, as well as the dimensions of supply chain relationship quality on visibility regarding whether it has a positive effect.

Keywords: supply chain relationship quality (SCRQ), cooperative strategy, visibility, competition

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Authors: Caitlin Bailey, Marian Frattarola Saulino, Beth Steinberg

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Today, virtually all programs offered to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities tout themselves as person-centered, community-based and inclusive, yet there is a vast range in type and quality of services that use these similar descriptors. The issue is exacerbated by the fields’ measurement practices around quality, inclusion, independent living, choice and person-centered outcomes. For instance, community inclusion for people with disabilities is often measured by the number of times person steps into his or her community. These measurement approaches set standards for quality too low so that agencies supporting group home residents to go bowling every week can report the same outcomes as an agency that supports one person to join a book club that includes people based on their literary interests rather than disability labels. Ultimately, lack of delineation in measurement contributes to the confusion between face value “quality” and true quality services and supports for many people with disabilities and their families. This exploratory study adopts alternative approaches to quality measurement including co-production methods and systems theoretical framework in order to identify the factors that 1) lead to high-quality supports and, 2) differentiate high-quality services. Project researchers have partnered with community practitioners who are all committed to providing quality services and supports but vary in the degree to which they are actually able to provide them. The study includes two parts; first, an online survey distributed to more than 500 agencies that have demonstrated commitment to providing high-quality services; and second, four in-depth case studies with agencies in three United States and Israel providing a variety of supports to children and adults with disabilities. Results from both the survey and in-depth case studies were thematically analyzed and coded. Results show that there are specific factors that differentiate service quality; however meaningful quality measurement practices also require that researchers explore the contextual factors that contribute to quality. These not only include direct services and interactions, but also characteristics of service users, their environments as well as organizations providing services, such as management and funding structures, culture and leadership. Findings from this study challenge researchers, policy makers and practitioners to examine existing quality service standards and measurements and to adopt alternate methodologies and solutions to differentiate and scale up evidence-based quality practices so that all people with disabilities have access to services that support them to live, work, and enjoy where and with whom they choose.

Keywords: co-production, inclusion, independent living, quality measurement, quality supports

Procedia PDF Downloads 378

Authors: M. Yosofi, S. Ezeddini, A. Ollivier, V. Lavaste, C. Mayousse

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Additive manufacturing processes have changed significantly in a wide range of industries and their application progressed from rapid prototyping to production of end-use products. However, their environmental impact is still a rather open question. In order to support the growth of this technology in the industrial sector, environmental aspects should be considered and predictive models may help monitor and reduce the environmental footprint of the processes. This work presents predictive models based on a previously developed methodology for the environmental impact evaluation combined with a technical and economical assessment. Here we applied the methodology to the Fused Deposition Modeling process. First, we present the predictive models relative to different types of machines. Then, we present a decision-making tool designed to identify the optimum manufacturing strategy regarding technical, economic, and environmental criteria.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, decision-makings, environmental impact, predictive models

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Authors: Honey Fadaie, Vahid Parhoodeh

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This paper concentrates on the result of research based on studies on parameters of sustainability in Persian Garden design as a traditional Iranian landscape and in a contemporary park, Jamshidieh in Iran as a new experience of re-creation of Persian Gardens’ sustainable design. Since, sustainable development has three parts: social, economic and environmental. The complexities of each part are too great to discuss in a paper of this length, thus the authors decided to analyze the design of Persian garden by considering their environmental sustainability. By the analysis of sustainable features and characteristics of traditional gardens, and exploration of parameters of sustainability in Iranian modern landscape, Such as Jamshideh Park, the main objective of this research is to identify the strategies for sustainable landscaping and parameters of creating sustainable green spaces for contemporary cities. The results demonstrate that in Persian Gardens, sustainable parameters such as productive networks and local renewable materials have been used to achieve sustainable development. At the conclusion, guidelines and recommendations for sustainable landscaping are presented.

Keywords: Jamshidieh park, Persian garden, sustainable landscape, urban green space

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Authors: E. V. Kuzmicheva

Abstract:

An attention is concentrated on a service quality estimation of sport services. A typical mathematical model was developed at the base of the «general economic theory of mass service» accounting pedagogical requirements of fitness services. Also it took into account a dependence of the club member number versus on a value of square of sport facilities. Final recommendations were applied to the fitness club resulted in some improvement of the quality sport service, an increasing of the revenue from club members and profit of clubs.

Keywords: fitness club, efficiency of operation, facilities, service quality, mass service

Procedia PDF Downloads 491