Search results for: U.S. housing market

Authors: Niina Jallinoja, Anu Moisio

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Focus on adult learning is vital to overcome economic challenges as well as to respond to the demand for new competencies and sustained productivity in the digitalized world economy. Employees of all ages must be able to carry on continuous professional development to remain competitive in the labor market. According to EU policies, countries should offer more flexible opportunities for adult learners who study online and in so-called ‘second chance’ qualification programmes. Traditionally, adult education in Finland has comprised of not only liberal adult education but also the government funding to study for Bachelor, Master's, and Ph.D. degrees in Finnish Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS). From the beginning of 2021, public funding is allocated not only to degrees but also to courses to achieve new competencies for adult learners in Finland. Consequently, there will be degree students (often younger of age) and adult learners studying in the same evening, online and blended courses. The question is thus: How are combined studies meeting the different needs of degree students and adult learners? Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences (UAS), located in the metropolitan area of Finland, is taking up the challenge of continuous learning for adult learners. Haaga-Helia has been reforming the bachelor level education and respective shorter courses from 2019 in the biggest project in its history. By the end of 2023, Haaga-Helia will have a flexible, modular curriculum for the bachelor's degrees of hospitality management, business administration, business information technology, journalism and sports management. Building on the shared key competencies, degree students will have the possibility to build individual study paths more flexibly, thanks to the new modular structure of the curriculum. They will be able to choose courses across all degrees, and thus, build their own unique competence combinations. All modules can also be offered as separate courses or learning paths to non-degree students, both publicly funded and as commercial services for employers. Consequently, there will be shared course implementations for degree studies and adult learners with various competence requirements. The newly designed courses are piloted in parallel of the designing of the curriculum in Haaga-Helia during 2020 and 2021. Semi-structured online surveys are composed among the participants for the key competence courses. The focus of the research is to understand how students in the bachelor programme and adult learners from Open UAE perceive the learning experience in such a diverse learning group. A comparison is also executed between learning methods of in-site teaching, online implementation, blended learning and virtual self-learning courses to understand how the pedagogy is meeting the learning objectives of these two different groups. The new flexible curricula and the study modules are to be designed to fill the most important competence gaps that exist in the Finnish labor markets. The new curriculum will be dynamic and constantly evolving over time according to the future competence needs in the labor market. This type of approach requires constant dialogue between Haaga-Helia and workplaces during and after designing of the shared curriculum.

Keywords: ccompetence development, continuous learning, curriculum, higher education

Procedia PDF Downloads 124

Authors: Theingi Shwe, Riken Homma, Kazuhisa Iki, Juko Ito

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The growing cities of the developing country are characterized by rapid growth and poor infrastructure management inviting and accelerating relative environmental problems. Even though the movements of the sustainability had already been developed around the world, it is still increasing in the developing countries to plant sustainable practices. Aligned with the sustainable development actions, many sustainable assessment tools are also developed to rate and evaluate the sustainability performances through the building to community level. Among them, CASBEE is developed by Japanese organizations and is recognized as one of the international well-known assessment tools. The main purpose of the study is to find out the potential of CASBEE tool reflecting sustainability city level performances in developing countries. The research framework was designed with three major phases: Quantitative Approach, Qualitative Approach and Evaluation Reflection. The first two approaches were based on the investigation of tool’s contents and indicators by means of three sustainable dimensions and sustainability categories. To know the reality and reflection on developing country, Pathein City from Myanmar was selected and evaluated by 2012 version of CASBEE for Cities. The evaluation practices went through assigned indicators and the evaluation outcome presents the performances of Pathein city’s environmental efficiency as a very good in current conditions. The results of this study indicate that the indicators of this tool have balance coverage among three dimensions of sustainability but it has not yet counted enough for some indicators like location, infrastructure and institution which are relative to society dimension. In the developing countries’ cities, the most critical issues on development such as affordable housing and heritage preservation which are already planted in Pathein City but the tool does not account for those issues. Moreover, in some of the indicators, the benchmark and the weighting coefficient are strongly linked to the system birth region. By means of this study, it can be stated that CASBEE for Cities would be potential for delivering sustainable city level development in developing country especially in Myanmar along with further inclusion of the indicators.

Keywords: assessment tool, CASBEE, developing country, Myanmar, Pathein city, sustainable development

Procedia PDF Downloads 255

Authors: Andrés I. Ávila, Patricia Aros, César San Martín, Elizabeth Kehr, Yovana Leal

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Planning models for fresh products is a very useful tool for improving the net profits. To get an efficient supply chain model, several functions should be considered to get a complete simulation of several operational units. We consider a linear programming model to help farmers to decide if it is convenient to choose what area should be planted for three kinds of export fruits considering their future investment. We consider area, investment, water, productivity minimal unit, and harvest restrictions to develop a monthly based model to compute the average income in five years. Also, conditions on the field as area, water availability, and initial investment are required. Using the Chilean costs and dollar-peso exchange rate, we can simulate several scenarios to understand the possible risks associated to this market. Also, this tool help to support decisions for government and individual farmers.

Keywords: mixed integer problem, fresh fruit production, support decision model, agricultural and biosystems engineering

Procedia PDF Downloads 435

Authors: Richard J. Sobelsohn

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Green Building and Sustainable Development help fight climate change, and protects the ozone, animal habitats, air quality, and ground water. The myriad of reasons to go Green has multiplied to the point that a developer that is building a ground-up or renovating/retrofitting a property has a plethora of choices to get to the green goal post. Sustainability not affects the bottom line but satisfies corporate mandates (ESG), consumer demand, market requirements, and the many laws dictating green building practices. The good news is that there are many paths a property owner can take to become green. The bad news is that there are many paths a property owner can take to become green, and they need to choose which direction to take. Certification of a building used to be the highest achievement in the Green building world. Now there are so many variables and laws with which a property owner must comply, and the legal analysis has mushroomed. Operation and Maintenance have also become one of the most important functions for a prudent Green Building owner. So adding to the “development/retrofit” parties involved in the sustainable building legal world, we now need to include all those people who keep the building green, and there are a lot of them!

Keywords: green building, sustainable development, legal issues, greenwashing, green cleaning, compliance, ESQ

Procedia PDF Downloads 120

Authors: Josephine R. Migalbin

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Halal is an Arabic word meaning "lawful" or "permitted". When it comes to food and consumables, Halal is the dietary standard of Muslims. The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has a comparative advantage when it comes to Halal Industry because it is the only Muslim region in the Philippines and the natural starting point for the establishment of a halal industry in the country. The region has identified goat production not only for domestic consumption but for export market. Goat production is one of its strengths due to cultural compatibility. There is a high demand for goats during Ramadhan and Eid ul-Adha. The study aimed to provide an overview of the ARMM Halal Goat Industry; to map out the specific supply chain of halal goat, and to analyze the performance of the halal goat supply chain in terms of efficiency, flexibility, and overall responsiveness. It also aimed to identify areas for improvement in the supply chain such as behavioural, institutional, and process to provide recommendations for improvement in the supply chain towards efficient and effective production and marketing of halal goats, subsequently improving the plight of the actors in the supply chain. Generally, the raising of goats is characterized by backyard production (92.02%). There are four interrelated factors affecting significantly the production of goats which are breeding prolificacy, prevalence of diseases, feed abundance and pre-weaning mortality rate. The institutional buyers are mostly traders, restaurants/eateries, supermarkets, and meat shops, among others. The municipalities of Midsayap and Pikit in another region and Parang are the major goat sources and the municipalities in ARMM among others. In addition to the major supply centers, Siquijor, an island province in the Visayas is becoming a key source of goats. Goats are usually gathered by traders/middlemen and brought to the public markets. Meat vendors purchase them directly from raisers, slaughtered and sold fresh in wet markets. It was observed that there is increased demand at 2%/year and that supply is not enough to meet the demand. Farm gate price is 2.04 USD to 2.11 USD/kg liveweight. Industry information is shared by three key participants - raisers, traders and buyers. All respondents reported that information is through personal built-upon past experiences and that there is no full disclosure of information among the key participants in the chain. The information flow in the industry is fragmented in nature such that no total industry picture exists. In the last five years, numerous local and foreign agencies had undertaken several initiatives for the development of the halal goat industry in ARMM. The major issues include productivity which is the greatest challenge, difficulties in accessing technical support channels and lack of market linkage and consolidation. To address the various issues and concerns of the various industry players, there is a need to intensify appropriate technology transfer through extension activities, improve marketing channels by grouping producers, strengthen veterinary services and provide capital windows to improve facilities and reduce logistics and transaction costs in the entire supply chain.

Keywords: autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao, halal, halal goat industry, supply chain improvement

Procedia PDF Downloads 329

Authors: Ammar Amsyar Abdul Haddi, Mohd Hasni Jaafar

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Heavy metals are elements naturally presented in the environment that can cause adverse effect to health. But not much literature was found on effects toward lung function, where impairment of lung function may lead to various lung diseases. The objective of the study is to explore the lung function impairment, urinary heavy metal level, and its associated factors among the community in Klang valley, Malaysia. Sampling was done in Kuala Lumpur suburb public and housing areas during community events throughout March 2019 till October 2019. respondents who gave the consent were given a questionnaire to answer and was proceeded with a lung function test. Urine samples were obtained at the end of the session and sent for Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis for heavy metal cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) concentration. A total of 200 samples were analysed, and of all, 52% of respondents were male, Age ranging from 18 years old to 74 years old with a mean age of 38.44. Urinary samples show that 12% of the respondent (n=22) has Cd level above than average, and 1.5 % of the respondent (n=3) has urinary Pb at an above normal level. Bivariate analysis show that there was a positive correlation between urinary Cd and urinary Pb (r= 0.309; p<0.001). Furthermore, there was a negative correlation between urinary Cd level and full vital capacity (FVC) (r=-0.202, p=0.004), Force expiratory volume at 1 second (FEV1) (r = -0.225, p=0.001), and also with Force expiratory flow between 25-75% FVC (FEF25%-75%) (r= -0.187, p=0.008). however, urinary Pb did not show any association with FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC, or FEF25%-75%. Multiple linear regression analysis shows that urinary Cd remained significant and negatively affect FVC% (p=0.025) and FEV1% (p=0.004) achieved from the predicted value. On top of that, other factors such as education level (p=0.013) and duration of smoking(p=0.003) may influencing both urinary Cd and performance in lung function as well, suggesting Cd as a potential mediating factor between smoking and impairment of lung function. however, there was no interaction detected between heavy metal or other influencing factor in this study. In short, there is a negative linear relationship detected between urinary Cd and lung function, and urinary Cd is likely to affects lung function in a restrictive pattern. Since smoking is also an influencing factor for urinary Cd and lung function impairment, it is highly suggested that smokers should be screened for lung function and urinary Cd level in the future for early disease prevention.

Keywords: lung function, heavy metals, community

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Authors: Sharon Kun-Amornpong

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In this paper, ASEAN financial integration will be discussed from the perspective of the rule of law. The methodology of the paper is comparative regionalism. It will compare the role of the rule of law in ASEAN financial integration with that of the European Union with particular focuses on, for example, institutions and values. The paper argues that in the realm of financial integration, the rule of law is one of the most important factors that could help strengthen and promote financial integration in ASEAN. This is despite the fact that the ‘ASEAN Way’ emphasises non-interference and utilises a consensus-based cooperation rather than formal institutions. Nevertheless, the rule of law for ASEAN financial integration should be situated in its own historical, cultural, and political contexts. In addition, in the case of ASEAN, the rule of law cannot take root if it does not come from the demand of the people in this region. For instance, a reform or creation of legal institutions should not be imposed by international financial institutions. The paper will conclude that law has a normative force. It could shape expectation of market participants and promote deeper financial integration if norms that the law generates have become a significant norm in the society or industry.

Keywords: Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, comparative regionalism, financial integration, the rule of law

Procedia PDF Downloads 203

Authors: Kitti Supchukun, Kris Angkanaporn, Teerapong Yata

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The product innovation using a nutraceutical delivery system on improving the growth performance of broilers is the product planning and development to solve the antibiotics banning policy incurred in the local and global livestock production system. Restricting the use of antibiotics can reduce the quality of chicken meat and increase pathogenic bacterial contamination. Although other alternatives were used to replace antibiotics, the efficacy was inconsistent, reflecting on low chicken growth performance and contaminated products. The product innovation aims to effectively deliver the selected active ingredients into the body. This product is tested on the pharmaceutical lab scale and on the farm-scale for market feasibility in order to create product innovation using the nutraceutical delivery system model. The model establishes the product standardization and traceable quality control process for farmers. The study is performed using mixed methods. Starting with a qualitative method to find the farmers' (consumers) demands and the product standard, then the researcher used the quantitative research method to develop and conclude the findings regarding the acceptance of the technology and product performance. The survey has been sent to different organizations by random sampling among the entrepreneur’s population including integrated broiler farm, broiler farm, and other related organizations. The mixed-method results, both qualitative and quantitative, verify the user and lead users' demands since they provide information about the industry standard, technology preference, developing the right product according to the market, and solutions for the industry problems. The product innovation selected nutraceutical ingredients that can solve the following problems in livestock; bactericidal, anti-inflammation, gut health, antioxidant. The combinations of the selected nutraceutical and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) technology aim to improve chemical and pharmaceutical components by changing the structure of active ingredients into nanoparticle, which will be released in the targeted location with accurate concentration. The active ingredients in nanoparticle form are more stable, elicit antibacterial activity against pathogenic Salmonella spp and E.coli, balance gut health, have antioxidant and anti-inflammation activity. The experiment results have proven that the nutraceuticals have an antioxidant and antibacterial activity which also increases the average daily gain (ADG), reduces feed conversion ratio (FCR). The results also show a significant impact on the higher European Performance Index that can increase the farmers' profit when exporting. The product innovation will be tested in technology acceptance management methods from farmers and industry. The production of broiler and commercialization analyses are useful to reduce the importation of animal supplements. Most importantly, product innovation is protected by intellectual property.

Keywords: nutraceutical, nano structure lipid carrier, anti-microbial drug resistance, broiler, Salmonella

Procedia PDF Downloads 172

Authors: Guenther Schuh, Michael Riesener, Jan Kantelberg

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Due to the fugacity of markets and the reduction of product lifecycles, manufacturing companies from high-wage countries are nowadays faced with the challenge to place more innovative products within even shorter development time on the market. At the same time, volatile customer requirements have to be satisfied in order to successfully differentiate from market competitors. One potential approach to address the explained challenges is provided by agile values and principles. These agile values and principles already proofed their success within software development projects in the form of management frameworks like Scrum or concrete procedure models such as Extreme Programming or Crystal Clear. Those models lead to significant improvements regarding quality, costs and development time and are therefore used within most software development projects. Motivated by the success within the software industry, manufacturing companies have tried to transfer agile mechanisms of action to the development of hardware products ever since. Though first empirical studies show similar effects in the agile development of hardware products, no comprehensive procedure model for the design of development iterations has been developed for hardware development yet due to different constraints of the domains. For this reason, this paper focusses on the design of agile product development processes by transferring mechanisms of action used in agile software development towards product development. This is conducted by decomposing the individual systems 'product development' and 'agile software development' into relevant elements and symbiotically composing the elements of both systems in respect of the design of agile product development processes afterwards. In a first step, existing product development processes are described following existing approaches of the system theory. By analyzing existing case studies from industrial companies as well as academic approaches, characteristic objectives, activities and artefacts are identified within a target-, action- and object-system. In partial model two, mechanisms of action are derived from existing procedure models of agile software development. These mechanisms of action are classified in a superior strategy level, in a system level comprising characteristic, domain-independent activities and their cause-effect relationships as well as in an activity-based element level. Within partial model three, the influence of the identified agile mechanism of action towards the characteristic system elements of product development processes is analyzed. For this reason, target-, action- and object-system of the product development are compared with the strategy-, system- and element-level of agile mechanism of action by using the graph theory. Furthermore, the necessity of existence of activities within iteration can be determined by defining activity-specific degrees of freedom. Based on this analysis, agile product development processes are designed in form of different types of iterations within a last step. By defining iteration-differentiating characteristics and their interdependencies, a logic for the configuration of activities, their form of execution as well as relevant artefacts for the specific iteration is developed. Furthermore, characteristic types of iteration for the agile product development are identified.

Keywords: activity-based process model, agile mechanisms of action, agile product development, degrees of freedom

Procedia PDF Downloads 203

Authors: Patrick Mbassegue, Mickael Gardoni

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In a market environment centered more and more on services and the digital economy, knowledge management becomes a framework that can help organizations to create value and to improve their overall performance. Based on an optimal allocation of scarce resources, managers are interested in demonstrating the added value generated by knowledge management projects. One of the challenges faced by organizations is the difficulty in measuring impacts and concrete results of knowledge management initiatives. The present article concerns the measure of concrete results coming from knowledge management projects based on balance scorecard model. One of the goals is to underline what can be done based on this model but also to highlight the limits associated. The present article is structured in five parts; 1-knowledge management projects and organizational impacts; 2- a framework and a methodology to measure organizational impacts; 3- application illustrated in two case studies; 4- limits concerning the proposed framework; 5- the proposal of a new framework to measure organizational impacts.

Keywords: knowledge management, project, balance scorecard, impacts

Procedia PDF Downloads 260

Authors: Luis Rodrigo Valencia Pérez, Juan Manuel Peña Aguilar, Adelina Morita Alexander, Alberto Lamadrid Alvarez, Héctor Fernando Valencia Pérez

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Financial education is among the areas of opportunity in the Spanish-speaking from an early age to high school, through mobile devices such as cell phones and tablets using ludic and fun applications like interactive games, children can learn money management and investment through time, thereby fostering the habit of saving and/or sound management of cash and family business resources, having interaction with an uncontrolled environment such as the involvement of other players in the external decisions of the environment in which the game is play. The application proposed in Phase 1 (design and development) was designed in multi-user environments, under methodologies of hybrid programming for any platform on the market and designed under CMMI standards that allow for quality production over time, following up on these improvements counting with continuous user feedback and usage statistics.

Keywords: mobile educational games, ludic games, children, multiuser, design and software development

Procedia PDF Downloads 376

Authors: Arnab Banerjee, Deep Sagar Verma

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Tier 3 cities of India is home to one of the fastest growing socio-economic powers in the world and hence is the focus of a lot of business activity as it is almost a blue ocean giving the first mover a huge strategic advantage. Among the various sectors, the retailing is perhaps one of the most promising sectors. The study caries out 129 successfully structured mall-intercept interviews in the town of Shillong, Meghalaya in an attempt to understand the SBO and MBO shoppers. Demographic variables itself does not show any store format preference although discounts do attract the lower income group more while clear difference is observed among genders when it comes to importance of ambience, and it is more pronounced for SBO patrons. SBO patrons are more focused while MBO patrons are more into leisure shopping. Price is the most important predictor of satisfaction especially for MBO shoppers. The market shows three basic segments i.e experiential, relationship and value shoppers.

Keywords: demographic variables, degree of importance, degree of satisfaction, SBO and MBO

Procedia PDF Downloads 286

Authors: Snezana Savoska, Blagoj Ristevski, Violeta Manevska, Zlatko Savoski, Ilija Jolevski

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Big data is widely accepted by the pharmaceutical companies as a result of business demands create through legal pressure. Pharmaceutical companies have many legal demands as well as standards’ demands and have to adapt their procedures to the legislation. To manage with these demands, they have to standardize the usage of the current information technology and use the latest software tools. This paper highlights some important aspects of experience with big data projects implementation in a pharmaceutical Macedonian company. These projects made improvements of their business processes by the help of new software tools selected to comply with legal and business demands. They use IT as a strategic tool to obtain competitive advantage on the market and to reengineer the processes towards new Internet economy and quality demands. The company is required to manage vast amounts of structured as well as unstructured data. For these reasons, they implement projects for emerging and appropriate software tools which have to deal with big data concepts accepted in the company.

Keywords: big data, unstructured data, SAP ERP, documentum

Procedia PDF Downloads 266

Authors: Simin Asadollahi, Amir H. Soruri, Ali Moghimi

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Nowadays, salad oils are used in many countries around the world. Therefore, it is of great importance to ensure the safety of these food products which are usually packaged in Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and come on the market. This study investigated the effects of storage time and temperature on the migration rate of phthalate compounds from PET bottle to salad oil. In more detail, migration rate of bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate from bottles to salad oil samples was measured in 1st, the 30th, and the 60th days of storage at a temperature of either 20 or 40 °C. At both storage temperatures, an increase in the storage time led to a statistically significant increase in the migration rate of phthalate compounds (p<.01). Regarding this, the highest migration rate occurred after 60 days of storage in to the samples. Furthermore, it was revealed bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate had a higher migration rate at 40 °C than at 20 °C which showed that an increase in the storage temperature would lead to an increase in the migration rate. The highest migration rate occurred in relation to salad oil stored at 40 °C and after 60 days of storage.

Keywords: salad oil, migration rate, polyethylene terephthalate, bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate

Procedia PDF Downloads 360

Authors: Mahdy Elhusseiny, Richard Gearhart, Mariam Alyammahi

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In this study we analyse the impact of a number of major macroeconomic variables on industry-specific excess rates of return. In later specifications, we include time and recession fixed effects, to potentially capture time-specific trends that may have been changing over our panel. We have a number of results that bear mentioning. Seasonal and temporal factors found to have very large role in sector-specific excess returns. Increases in M1(money supply) decreases bank, insurance, real estate, and telecommunications, while increases industrial and transportation excess returns. The results indicate that the market return increases every sector-specific rate of return. The 2007 to 2009 recession significantly reduced excess returns in the bank, real estate, and transportation sectors.

Keywords: macroeconomic factors, industry returns, fixed effects, temporal factors

Procedia PDF Downloads 74

Authors: Jingxian An, Wei Yu

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Australia and New Zealand are neighboring countries in the New World wine industry, and their Pinot Noir wines have gained both production and reputation in recent years, competing in the international market. Consumer perception is heavily influenced by wine expertise, which plays a significant role in shaping their perceptions. This study aims to investigate the effects of country of origin and wine expertise on consumer perceptions. The results indicate that consumers' perceptions of Pinot Noir wines' astringency, sourness, sweetness, clarity, and bitterness are impacted by both country of origin and wine expertise. Of the five sensory attributes, sourness was found to have a more significant influence on consumer perceptions, while clarity had a minimal impact. Additionally, the study found that the country of origin had a greater impact on consumer perceptions than wine expertise.

Keywords: Australia, country of origin, consumer perception, New Zealand, wine expertise

Procedia PDF Downloads 72

Authors: Kevin Smith

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Publicly traded company in the US are legally obligated to host earnings calls that discuss their most recent financial reports. During these calls, investors are able to ask these companies questions about these financial reports and on the future direction of the company. This paper examines whether common institutional owners use these calls as a way to indirectly signal to companies in their portfolio to not take actions that could hurt the common owner's interests. This paper uses transcripts taken from the earnings calls of the six largest health insurance companies in the US from 2014 to 2019. This data is analyzed using text analysis and sentiment analysis to look for patterns in the statements made by common owners. The analysis found that common owners where more likely to recommend against direct price competition and instead redirect the insurance companies towards more passive actions, like investing in new technologies. This result indicates a mechanism that common owners use to reduce competition in the health insurance market.

Keywords: common ownership, text analysis, sentiment analysis, machine learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 72

Authors: Adekunle K. O, Adeniyi A. E, Kolawole E

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One of the most dramatic trends in the communications market in recent years has been the growth of prepaid services. Today, prepaid no longer constitutes the low-revenue, basic-service segment. It is driven by a high margin, value-add service customers who view it as a convenient way of retaining control over their usage and communication spending while expecting high service levels. To service providers, prepaid services offer the advantage of reducing bad accounts while allowing them to predict usage and plan network resources. Yet, the real-time demands of prepaid services require a scalable, real-time platform to manage customers through their entire life cycle. It delivers integrated real-time rating, voucher management, recharge management, customer care and service provisioning for the generation of new prepaid services. It carries high scalability that can handle millions of prepaid customers in real-time through their entire life cycle.

Keywords: prepaid billing, voucher management, customers, automated, security

Procedia PDF Downloads 109

Authors: Gudelj Petra, Franic Ema, Kolega Maja

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Mental health is crucial for personal, social, and socio-economic development, becoming an increasingly relevant topic, especially in the post-global pandemic era. One vulnerable demographic comprises students who, during the pandemic, faced challenges such as adapting to new educational methods, societal or residential changes, heightened stress, responsibilities, and entering the job market. These life challenges proved insurmountable for some individuals during this phase. This research aimed to examine students' attitudes towards individuals seeking psychological help. By gaining a better understanding of young people's perceptions of seeking psychological assistance, a clearer insight into how to make psychological support more accessible and acceptable can be achieved. A questionnaire was completed by 210 students from various disciplines at the University of Zagreb. At the same time, the majority of students express a positive attitude towards seeking psychological help, a very small percentage reported having sought it. One of the most common obstacles to seeking appropriate help was a lack of financial means, with the most significant motivators being the positive experiences of those who sought help and an affordable cost.

Keywords: mental health, students, psychological support, attitudes

Procedia PDF Downloads 76

Authors: Rhoda Afriyie Mensah, Lin Jiang, Solomon Asante-Okyere, Xu Qiang, Cong Jin

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Flammability analysis of extruded polystyrene (XPS) has become crucial due to its utilization as insulation material for energy efficient buildings. Using the Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose and Flynn-Wall-Ozawa methods, the degradation kinetics of two pure XPS from the local market, red and grey ones, were obtained from the results of thermogravity analysis (TG) and microscale combustion calorimetry (MCC) experiments performed under the same heating rates. From the experiments, it was discovered that red XPS released more heat than grey XPS and both materials showed two mass loss stages. Consequently, the kinetic parameters for red XPS were higher than grey XPS. A comparative evaluation of activation energies from MCC and TG showed an insignificant degree of deviation signifying an equivalent apparent activation energy from both methods. However, different activation energy profiles as a result of the different chemical pathways were presented when the dependencies of the activation energies on extent of conversion for TG and MCC were compared.

Keywords: flammability, microscale combustion calorimetry, thermogravity analysis, thermal degradation, kinetic analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 174

Authors: Manasi Mahanty

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In the current phase of globalization, the mobility of capital facilitates outsourcing and subcontracting of production processes to the developing economies for cheap and flexible labour force. In such process, the globalization of production networks operates at multi-locational points within the nation. Under the new quota regime in the globalization period, the Indian manufacturing exporters came under the influence of corporate buyers and large retailers from the importing countries. As part of such process, the garment manufacturing sector is expected to create huge employment opportunities and to expand the export market in the country. While following these, expectations, the apparel and garment industries mostly target to hire female migrant workers with a purpose of establishing more flexible industrial relations through the casual nature of employment contract. It leads to an increasing women’s participation in the labour market as well as the rise in precarious forms of female paid employment. In the context, the main objective of the paper is to understand the wider dynamics of globalization of production and its link with informalization, feminization of labour force and internal migration process of the country. For this purpose, the study examines the changing labour relations in the KINFRA Apparel Park at Kerala’s Special Economic Zone which operates under the scheme ‘Apparel Parks for Export’ (APE) of the Government of India. The present study was based on both quantitative and qualitative analysis. In the first, the secondary sources of data were collected from the source location (SEAM centre) and destination (KINFRA Park). The official figures and data were discussed and analyzed in order to find out the various dimensions of labour relations under globalization of production. In the second, the primary survey was conducted to make a comparative analysis of local and migrant female workers. The study is executed by taking 100 workers in total. The local workers comprised of 53% of the sample whereas the outside state workers were 47%. Even personal interviews with management staff, and workers were also made for collecting the information regarding the organisational structure, nature, and mode of recruitment, work environment, etc. The study shows the enormous presence of rural women migrant workers in KINFRA Apparel Park. A Public Private Partnership (PPP) arranged migration system is found as Skills for Employment in Apparel Manufacturing (SEAM) from where young women and girls are being sent to work in garment factories of Kerala’s KINFRA International Apparel Park under the guise of an apprenticeship based recruitment. The study concludes that such arrangements try to avoid standard employment relationships and strengthen informalization, casualization and contractualization of work. In this process, the recruitment of women migrant workers is to be considered as best option for the employers of private industries which could be more easily hired and fired.

Keywords: female migration, globalization, informalization, KINFRA apparel park

Procedia PDF Downloads 332

Authors: Guru P. S. Rangasamy

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In the cutting edge period of globalization, it has turned into a test to keep the clients and also shoppers in overlay and even keep our regular habitat safe and that is the greatest need of the time. Purchasers are likewise mindful of the ecological issues like a dangerous atmospheric deviation and the effect of natural contamination. Green showcasing is a marvel which has created specific critical in the present day advertise and has risen as an imperative idea in India, as in different parts of the creating and created world and is viewed as an essential procedure of encouraging practical improvement. In this exploration paper, primary accentuation has been made of idea, need, and significance of green promoting. It investigates the principle issues in reception of green showcasing hones. The paper portrays the present situation of Indian market and investigates the difficulties and openings organizations have with green advertising, why organizations are receiving it and eventual fate of green promoting and presumes that green showcasing is something that will consistently develop in both practice and request.

Keywords: environmental pollution, green marketing, globalization, global warming, sustainable development

Procedia PDF Downloads 287

Authors: Sebastian Hiergeist

Abstract:

It is a common view that Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) tend to migrate into the civil airspace. This trend is challenging UAV manufacturer in plenty ways, as there come up a lot of new requirements and functional aspects. On the higher application levels, this might be collision detection and avoidance and similar features, whereas all these functions only act as input for the flight control components of the aircraft. The flight control computer (FCC) is the central component when it comes up to ensure a continuous safe flight and landing. As these systems are flight critical, they have to be built up redundantly to be able to provide a Fail-Operational behavior. Recent architectural approaches of FCCs used in UAV systems are often based on very simple microprocessors in combination with proprietary Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) or Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) extensions implementing the whole redundancy functionality. In the future, such simple microprocessors may not be available anymore as they are more and more replaced by higher sophisticated System on Chip (SoC). As the avionic industry cannot provide enough market power to significantly influence the development of new semiconductor products, the use of solutions from foreign markets is almost inevitable. Products stemming from the industrial market developed according to IEC 61508, or automotive SoCs, according to ISO 26262, can be seen as candidates as they have been developed for similar environments. Current available SoC from the industrial or automotive sector provides quite a broad selection of interfaces like, i.e., Ethernet, SPI or FlexRay, that might come into account for the implementation of a redundancy network. In this context, possible network architectures shall be investigated which could be established by using the interfaces stated above. Of importance here is the avoidance of any single point of failures, as well as a proper segregation in distinct fault containment regions. The performed analysis is supported by the use of guidelines, published by the aviation authorities (FAA and EASA), on the reliability of data networks. The main focus clearly lies on the reachable level of safety, but also other aspects like performance and determinism play an important role and are considered in the research. Due to the further increase in design complexity of recent and future SoCs, also the risk of design errors, which might lead to common mode faults, increases. Thus in the context of this work also the aspect of dissimilarity will be considered to limit the effect of design errors. To achieve this, the work is limited to broadly available interfaces available in products from the most common silicon manufacturer. The resulting work shall support the design of future UAV FCCs by giving a guideline on building up a redundancy network between SoCs, solely using on board interfaces. Therefore the author will provide a detailed usability analysis on available interfaces provided by recent SoC solutions, suggestions on possible redundancy architectures based on these interfaces and an assessment of the most relevant characteristics of the suggested network architectures, like e.g. safety or performance.

Keywords: redundancy, System-on-Chip, UAV, flight control computer (FCC)

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Authors: Ali Essam El Shazly

Abstract:

The Haussmannization plan of Cairo in 1867 formed a regular network of roundabout spaces, though deteriorated at present. The method of identifying the spatial structure of roundabout Cairo for conservation matches the voronoi diagram with the space syntax through their geometrical property of spatial convexity. In this initiative, the primary convex hull of first-order voronoi adopts the integral and control measurements of space syntax on Cairo’s roundabout generators. The functional essence of royal palaces optimizes the roundabout structure in terms of spatial measurements and the symbolic voronoi projection of 'Tahrir Roundabout' over the Giza Nile and Pyramids. Some roundabouts of major public and commercial landmarks surround the pole of 'Ezbekia Garden' with a higher control than integral measurements, which filter the new spatial structure from the adjacent traditional town. Nevertheless, the least integral and control measures correspond to the voronoi contents of pollutant workshops and the plateau of old Cairo Citadel with the visual compensation of new royal landmarks on top. Meanwhile, the extended suburbs of infinite voronoi polygons arrange high control generators of chateaux housing in 'garden city' environs. The point pattern of roundabouts determines the geometrical characteristics of voronoi polygons. The measured lengths of voronoi edges alternate between the zoned short range at the new poles of Cairo and the distributed structure of longer range. Nevertheless, the shortest range of generator-vertex geometry concentrates at 'Ezbekia Garden' where the crossways of vast Cairo intersect, which maximizes the variety of choice at different spatial resolutions. However, the symbolic 'Hippodrome' which is the largest public landmark forms exclusive geometrical measurements, while structuring a most integrative roundabout to parallel the royal syntax. Overview of the symbolic convex hull of voronoi with space syntax interconnects Parisian Cairo with the spatial chronology of scattered monuments to conceive one universal Cairo structure. Accordingly, the approached methodology of 'voronoi-syntax' prospects the future conservation of roundabout Cairo at the inferred city-level concept.

Keywords: roundabout Cairo, first-order Voronoi, space syntax, spatial structure

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Authors: A. Bolaji Adesoye, Alimi Olorunfemi

Abstract:

This paper examines the impact of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) credit financing and financial market development and their shocks on the output growth of Nigeria. The study estimated a VAR model for Nigeria using 1970-2013 annual data series. Unit root tests and cointegration are carried out. The study also explores IRFs and FEVDs in a system that includes output, commercial bank loan to SMEs, domestic credit to private sector by banks, money supply, lending rate and investment. Findings suggest that shocks in commercial bank credit to SMEs has a major impact on the output changes of Nigeria. Money supply shocks also have a sizeable impact on output growth variations amidst other financial instruments. Lastly, neutrality of investment does not hold in Nigeria as it also has impact on output fluctuations.

Keywords: SMEs financing, financial development, investment, output, Nigeria

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Authors: Anil S. Khopkar, Kartik S. Pandya

Abstract:

Overvoltage in power systems is a phenomenon that cannot be avoided. However, it can be controlled to a certain extent. Power system equipment is to be protected against overvoltage to avoid system failure. Metal Oxide Surge Arresters (MOSA) are connected to the system for the protection of the power system against overvoltages. The MOSA will behave as an insulator under normal working conditions, where it offers a conductive path under voltage conditions. MOSA consists of zinc oxide elements (ZnO Blocks), which have non-linear V-I characteristics. ZnO blocks are connected in series and fitted in ceramic or polymer housing. This degrades due to the aging effect under continuous operation. Degradation of zinc oxide elements increases the leakage current flowing from the surge arresters. This Increased leakage current results in the increased temperature of the surge arrester, which further decreases the resistance of zinc oxide elements. As a result, leakage current increases, which again increases the temperature of a MOSA. This creates thermal runaway conditions for MOSA. Once it reaches the thermal runaway condition, it cannot return to normal working conditions. This condition is a primary cause of premature failure of surge arresters, as MOSA constitutes a core protective device for electrical power systems against transients. It contributes significantly to the reliable operation of the power system network. Hence, the condition monitoring of surge arresters should be done at periodic intervals. Online and Offline condition monitoring techniques are available for surge arresters. Offline condition monitoring techniques are not very popular as they require removing surge arresters from the system, which requires system shutdown. Hence, online condition monitoring techniques are very popular. This paper presents the evaluation technique for the surge arrester condition based on the leakage current analysis. Maximum amplitude of total leakage current (IT), Maximum amplitude of fundamental resistive leakage current (IR) and maximum amplitude of third harmonic resistive leakage current (I3rd) have been analyzed as indicators for surge arrester condition monitoring.

Keywords: metal oxide surge arrester (MOSA), over voltage, total leakage current, resistive leakage current

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Authors: Elvis Munyoka

Abstract:

While the number of African refugees settling in Australia has significantly increased since the mid-1990s, the marginalisation and exclusion of young people from refugee backgrounds in employment remain a critical challenge. Unemployment or underemployment can negatively impact refugees in multiple areas, such as income, housing, life satisfaction, and social status. Higher rates of unemployment among refugees are linked in part to the intersection of pre-migration and daily challenges like trauma, racism, gender identity, and English language competency, all of which generate multiple employability disadvantages. However, the intersection of gender, race, social class, and age in impacting African refugee youth’s access to employment has received less attention. Using a qualitative case study approach, the presentation will explore how gender, race, social class, and age influence African refugee youth graduates’ access to employment in South Australia. The intersectionality theory and capability approach to social justice is used to explore intersecting factors impacting African refugee youth’s access to employment in South Australia. Participants were 16 African refugee graduates aged 18-30 living in South Australia who took part in the study for one year. Based on the trends in the data, the results suggest that long-term unemployment and underemployment, coupled with ongoing racism and marginalisation, have the potential to make refugees more vulnerable to several mental disorders such as depression, hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts. The analysis also reveals that resettlement challenges may limit refugees’ ability to recover from pre-migration trauma. The impact of resettlement challenges on refugee mental health highlights the need for comprehensive policy interventions to address the barriers refugees face in finding employment in resettlement communities. With African refugees constituting such an important part of Australian society, they should have equal access to meaningful employment, as decent work promotes good mental health, successful resettlement, hope, and self-sufficiency.

Keywords: African refugees, employment, mental health, Australia, underemployment

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Authors: Yusuf Seedat

Abstract:

The necessity to understand global financial markets has increased following the unfortunate spread of the recent financial crisis around the world. Financial markets are considered to be complex systems consisting of highly volatile move-ments whose indexes fluctuate without any clear pattern. Analytic methods of stock prices have been proposed in which financial markets are modeled using common network analysis tools and methods. It has been found that two key components of social network analysis are relevant to modeling financial markets, allowing us to forecast accurate predictions of stock prices within the financial market. Financial markets have a number of interacting components, leading to complex behavioral patterns. This paper describes a social network approach to analyzing financial markets as a viable approach to studying the way complex stock markets function. We also look at how social network analysis techniques and metrics are used to gauge an understanding of the evolution of financial markets as well as how community detection can be used to qualify and quantify in-fluence within a network.

Keywords: network analysis, social networks, financial markets, stocks, nodes, edges, complex networks

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Authors: Maria Bashutkina

Abstract:

In seeking to identify marketing factors that influence company’s performance, product management as well as new technology configuration, this study adopts resource based theory and applies it to the Swiss watchmaking companies. This paper presents results of qualitative research based on semi-structured interviews with CEO and marketing managers among watchmaking companies. This paper provides empirical evidences illustrating the link between the use of dynamic marketing capabilities and competitive advantage. We also present a set of propositions that outline how dynamic marketing capabilities could benefit product management and technological change in the Swiss independent watchmaking company, revealing competitive advantage in the highly competitive and turbulent market.

Keywords: dynamic marketing capabilities, luxury marketing, resource based theory, product management, Swiss watchmaking

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Authors: Monica Lia

Abstract:

This article presents a customer data analysis model using business intelligence tools for data modelling, transforming, data visualization and dynamic reports building. Economic organizational customer’s analysis is made based on the information from the transactional systems of the organization. The paper presents how to develop the data model starting for the data that companies have inside their own operational systems. The owned data can be transformed into useful information about customers using business intelligence tool. For a mature market, knowing the information inside the data and making forecast for strategic decision become more important. Business Intelligence tools are used in business organization as support for decision-making.

Keywords: customer analysis, business intelligence, data warehouse, data mining, decisions, self-service reports, interactive visual analysis, and dynamic dashboards, use cases diagram, process modelling, logical data model, data mart, ETL, star schema, OLAP, data universes

Procedia PDF Downloads 425