Search results for: current research information systems

Authors: Kars Beek, Remco Groeneveld, Sjaak Brinkkemper

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Although there is much literature available on requirement documentation in traditional software development, few studies have been conducted about this topic in open source software development. While open-source software development is becoming more important, the software development processes are often not as structured as corporate software development processes. Papers show that communities, creating open-source software, often lack structure and documentation. However, most recent studies about this topic are often ten or more years old. Therefore, this research has been conducted to determine if the lack of structure and documentation in requirement engineering is currently still the situation in these communities. Three open-source products have been chosen as subjects for conducting this research. The data for this research was gathered based on interviews, observations, and analyses of feature proposals and issue tracking tools. In this paper, we present a comparison and an analysis of the different methods used for requirements documentation to understand the current practices of requirements documentation in open source software development.

Keywords: case study, open source software, open source software development, requirement elicitation, requirement engineering

Procedia PDF Downloads 104

Authors: B. Baran, S. N. Kaptanoglu, M. Ocal, Y. Kagnici, E. Esen, E. Siyez, D. M. Siyez

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Infertility is the fact that couples cannot have children despite 1 year of unprotected sexual life. Infertility can be considered as an important problem affecting not only sexual life but also social and psychological conditions of couples. Learning about information about preventable factors related to infertility during university years plays an important role in preventing a possible infertility case in older ages. The possibility to facilitate access to information with the internet has provided the opportunity to reach a broad audience in the diverse learning environments and educational environment. Moreover, the internet has become a basic resource for the 21st-century learners. Providing information about infertility over the internet will enable more people to reach in a short time. When studies conducted abroad about infertility are examined, interactive websites and online education programs come to the fore. In Turkey, while there is no comprehensive online education program for university students, it seems that existing studies are aimed to make more advertisements for doctors or hospitals. In this study, it was aimed to design and develop online infertility prevention education for university students. Mayer’s Multimedia Learning Theory made up the framework for the online learning environment in this study. The results of the needs analysis collected from the university students in Turkey who were selected with sampling to represent the audience for online learning contributed to the design phase. In this study, an infertility prevention online education environment designed as a 4-week education was developed by explaining the theoretical basis and needs analysis results. As a result; in the development of the online environment, different kind of visual aids that will increase teaching were used in the environment of online education according to Mayer’s principles of extraneous processing (coherence, signaling, spatial contiguity, temporal contiguity, redundancy, expectation principles), essential processing (segmenting, pre-training, modality principles) and generative processing (multimedia, personalization, voice principles). For example, the important points in reproductive systems’ expression were emphasized by visuals in order to draw learners’ attention, and the presentation of the information was also supported by the human voice. In addition, because of the limited knowledge of university students in the subject, the issue of female reproductive and male reproductive systems was taught before preventable factors related to infertility. Furthermore, 3D video and augmented reality application were developed in order to embody female and male reproductive systems. In conclusion, this study aims to develop an interactive Online Infertility Prevention Education in which university students can easily access reliable information and evaluate their own level of knowledge about the subject. It is believed that the study will also guide the researchers who want to develop online education in this area as it contains design-stage decisions of interactive online infertility prevention education for university students.

Keywords: infertility, multimedia learning theory, online education, reproductive health

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Authors: Alejandro Villegas, Cihan Varol

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Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) products is an emerging technology that can contain forensically important information for a criminal activity. Without having the user name and passwords, this forensically important information can still be gathered by the investigators. Although there are a few VoIP forensic investigative applications available in the literature, most of them are particularly designed to collect evidence from the Skype product. Therefore, in order to assist law enforcement with collecting forensically important information from variety of Betamax VoIP tools, CVOIP-FRU framework is developed. CVOIP-FRU provides a data gathering solution that retrieves usernames, contact lists, as well as call and SMS logs from Betamax VoIP products. It is a scripting utility that searches for data within the registry, logs and the user roaming profiles in Windows and Mac OSX operating systems. Subsequently, it parses the output into readable text and html formats. One superior way of CVOIP-FRU compared to the other applications that due to intelligent data filtering capabilities and cross platform scripting back end of CVOIP-FRU, it is expandable to include other VoIP solutions as well. Overall, this paper reveals the exploratory analysis performed in order to find the key data paths and locations, the development stages of the framework, and the empirical testing and quality assurance of CVOIP-FRU.

Keywords: betamax, digital forensics, report utility, VoIP, VoIPBuster, VoIPWise

Procedia PDF Downloads 297

Authors: Shaun G. Abbott, Rebecca C. Reynolds, John B. F. de Wit

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Low physical activity (PA) levels are a major public health concern in Australia. There is some evidence that PA interventions can increase PA levels via various methods, including online delivery. Low Socioeconomic Status (SES) people participate in less PA than the rest of the population, partly due to poor self-regulation behaviors associated with socioeconomic characteristics. Interventions that involve a particular method of self-regulation, Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions (MCII), has regularly achieved healthy behavior change, but few studies focus on PA behavior outcomes and no studies examining the effect of MCII on the PA behaviors of low SES people has been done. In this study, a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) will deliver MCII for PA behavior change to individuals of relative disadvantage for the first time. The current pilot study will predict sample size for a future full RCT and test the hypothesis that sedentary participants from areas of relative socioeconomic disadvantage of Sydney, who learn the MCII technique will be more physically active, have improved anthropometry and psychological indicators at the completion of a 12-week intervention compared to baseline and control. Eligible participants of relative socioeconomic disadvantage will be randomly assigned to either the ‘PA Information Plus MCII Intervention Group’ or a ‘PA Information-Only Control Group’. Both groups will attend a baseline and 12-week face-to-face consultation; where PA, anthropometric and psychological data will be gathered. The intervention group will be guided through an MCII session at the baseline appointment to establish a PA goal to aim to achieve over 12 weeks. Other than these baseline and 12-week consultations, all participant interaction will occur online. All participants will receive a ‘Fitbit’ accelerometer to record objectively. PA as a daily step count, along with a PA diary for the duration of the study. PA data will be recorded on a personalized online spreadsheet. Both groups will receive a standard PA information email at weeks 2, 4, and 8. The intervention group will also receive scripted follow-up online appointments to discuss goal progress. The current pilot study is in recruitment stage with findings to be presented at the conference in December if selected.

Keywords: implementation intentions, mental contrasting, motivation, pedometer, physical activity, socioeconomic

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Authors: Moh Hanif Mubarok, Muhammad Rivai

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The public's response to quality rice is very high. So it is necessary to set minimum standards in checking the quality of rice. Most rice quality measurements still use manual methods, which are prone to errors due to limited human vision and the subjectivity of testers. So, a gas detection system can be a solution that has high effectiveness and subjectivity for solving current problems. The use of gas sensors in testing rice quality must pay attention to several parameters. The parameters measured in this research are the percentage of rice water content, gas concentration, output voltage, and measurement time. Therefore, this research was carried out to identify carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrous oxide (N₂O) and methane (CH₄) gases in rice quality using a series of gas sensors using the Neural Network method.

Keywords: carbon dioxide, dinitrogen oxide, methane, semiconductor gas sensor, neural network

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Authors: Rahul Saraswat

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More recently, a focus is given on replacing machined stainless steel metal flow-fields with inexpensive wiremesh current collectors. The flow-fields are based on simple woven wiremesh screens of various stainless steels, which are sandwiched between a thin metal plate of the same material to create a bipolar plate/flow-field configuration for use in a stack. Major advantages of using stainless steel wire screens include the elimination of expensive raw materials as well as machining and/or other special fabrication costs. Objective of the project is to improve the performance of the passive direct methanol fuel cell without increasing the cost of the cell and to make it as compact and light as possible. From the literature survey, it was found that very little is done in this direction & the following methodology was used. 1.) The passive DMFC cell can be made more compact, lighter and less costly by changing the material used in its construction. 2.) Controlling the fuel diffusion rate through the cell improves the performance of the cell. A passive liquid feed direct methanol fuel cell ( DMFC ) was fabricated using given MEA( Membrane Electrode Assembly ) and tested for different current collector structure. Mesh current collectors of different mesh densities, along with different support structures, were used, and the performance was found to be better. Methanol concentration was also varied. Optimisation of mesh size, support structure and fuel concentration was achieved. Cost analysis was also performed hereby. From the performance analysis study of DMFC, we can conclude with the following points : Area specific resistance (ASR) of wiremesh current collectors is lower than ASR of stainless steel current collectors. Also, the power produced by wiremesh current collectors is always more than that produced by stainless steel current collectors. Low or moderate methanol concentrations should be used for better and stable DMFC performance. Wiremesh is a good substitute of stainless steel for current collector plates of passive DMFC because of lower cost( by about 27 %), flexibility and light in weight characteristics of wiremesh.

Keywords: direct methanol fuel cell, membrane electrode assembly, mesh, mesh size, methanol concentration and support structure

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Authors: Mohammad Sadeghi

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The subject matter of this article is the efficiency of current knowledge standard to afford the legal integration regarding criteria and approaches to ISP knowledge standards, to shield ISP and copyright, trademark and other parties’ rights in the online information society. The EU recognizes the knowledge-based liability for intermediaries in the European Directive on Electronic Commerce, but the implication of all parties’ responsibility for combating infringement has been immolated by dominating attention on liability due to the lack of the appropriate legal mechanism to devote each party responsibility. Moreover, there is legal challenge on the applicability of knowledge-based liability on hosting services and information location tools service. The aim of this contribution is to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of ECD knowledge standard through case law with a special emphasis on duty of prevention and constructive knowledge role on internet service providers (ISP s’) to achieve fair balance between all parties rights.

Keywords: internet service providers, liability, copyright infringement, hosting, caching, mere conduit service, notice and takedown, E-commerce Directive

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Authors: Christian Lauter, Corin Reuter, Shuang Wu, Thomas Troester

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Lightweight construction became more and more important over the last decades in several applications, e.g. in the automotive or aircraft sector. This is the result of economic and ecological constraints on the one hand and increasing safety and comfort requirements on the other hand. In the field of lightweight design, different approaches are used due to specific requirements towards the technical systems. The use of endless carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) offers the largest weight saving potential of sometimes more than 50% compared to conventional metal-constructions. However, there are very limited industrial applications because of the cost-intensive manufacturing of the fibers and production technologies. Other disadvantages of pure CFRP-structures affect the quality control or the damage resistance. One approach to meet these challenges is hybrid materials. This means CFRP and sheet metal are combined on a material level. Therefore, new opportunities for innovative process routes are realizable. Hybrid lightweight design results in lower costs due to an optimized material utilization and the possibility to integrate the structures in already existing production processes of automobile manufacturers. In recent and current research, the advantages of two-layered hybrid materials have been pointed out, i.e. the possibility to realize structures with tailored mechanical properties or to divide the curing cycle of the epoxy resin into two steps. Current research work at the Chair for Automotive Lightweight Design (LiA) at the Paderborn University focusses on production processes for fiber-metal-laminates. The aim of this work is the development and qualification of a large-scale production process for high-performance fiber-metal-laminates (FML) for industrial applications in the automotive or aircraft sector. Therefore, the prepreg-press-technology is used, in which pre-impregnated carbon fibers and sheet metals are formed and cured in a closed, heated mold. The investigations focus e.g. on the realization of short process chains and cycle times, on the reduction of time-consuming manual process steps, and the reduction of material costs. This paper gives an overview over the considerable steps of the production process in the beginning. Afterwards experimental results are discussed. This part concentrates on the influence of different process parameters on the mechanical properties, the laminate quality and the identification of process limits. Concluding the advantages of this technology compared to conventional FML-production-processes and other lightweight design approaches are carried out.

Keywords: composite material, fiber-metal-laminate, lightweight construction, prepreg-press-technology, large-series production

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Authors: Pitimanus Bunlue

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This research aim (1) to determine the content of communication, social capital and cultural capital to promote tourism in the province to create awareness, motivation and desire to tourists visiting Thailand (2) to evaluate the performance of innovation communication social capital and cultural capital to promote tourism southern of Thailand. This research is a qualitative research. A research synthesis projects on social capital and cultural capital by use focus group discussions with media professionals and academics to communicate using a random sample specific. The result show that (1) Innovative communication, social capital and cultural capital and effective communication innovations after everyone wants to travel to Ranong province is the very highest level. (2) Information and experience about Ranong at a high level. (3) The data shows the strengths of each of the attractions at a high level. (4) The data shows a lifestyle that is unique to the province is moderate.

Keywords: innovative communication, promoting tourism, southern of Thailand, social capital

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Authors: Mohammad Reza Abidi, Zahra Nourouz Pour, Mehdi Moudi

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In this research, firstly critical success factors and deterrent factors in implementing projects and also the factors those cause information technology productivity (IT) paradox in Islamic Azad University, Zahedan branch examined. Research method of this paper is descriptive. In fact, the researcher by using survey, proposed useful solutions. In this research, subjects’ responders to questionnaires items were based on Likert scale. In the questionnaire, economic, technical, organizational and cultural factors in the university have been assessed in order to obtain the necessary validity. We used masters and technicians of IT department’s advices to realize reliability and consistency. For the reliability test we used Cronbach’s reliability test and validity has been obtained using SPSS software. Because of the research questions and objectives, t-student test is used for hypothesis testing. Finally we analyze the findings, we offer conclusions and suggestions.

Keywords: IT projects, Islamic Azad University, success factors, deterrent factors

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Authors: Ana Paula Melchiors Stahlschmidt

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This paper discusses the role of music as a ludic activity and constituent element of voice in the construction and consolidation of the relationship of the baby and his/her mother or caretaker, evaluating its implications in his/her psychic structure and constitution as a subject. The work was based on the research developed as part of the author’s doctoral activities carried out from her insertion in a project of the Music Department of Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS, which objective was the development of musical activities with groups of babies from 0 to 24 months old and their caretakers. Observations, video recordings of the meetings, audio testemonies, and evaluation tools applied to group participants were used as instruments for this research. Information was collected on the participation of 195 babies, among which 8 were more focused on through interviews with their mothers or caretakers. These interviews were analyzed based on the referential of French Discourse Analysis, Psychoanalysis, Psychology of Development and Musical Education. The results of the research were complemented by other posterior experiences that the author developed with similar groups, in a context of a private clinic. The information collected allowed the observation of the ludic and structural functions of musical activities, when developed in a structured environment, as well as the importance of the musicality of the mother’s voice to the psychical structuring of the baby, allowing his/her insertion in the language and his/her constituition as a subject.

Keywords: music and babies, maternal voice, Psychoanalysis and music, psychology and music

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Authors: Ilona Buchem, Carolin Gellner

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Over the last few years, the call for the support of senior learners in the development of their digital literacy has become prevalent, mainly due to the progression towards ageing societies paired with advances in digitalisation in all spheres of life, including e-health and electronic patient record (EPA). While major research efforts in supporting senior learners in developing digital literacy have been invested so far in e-learning focusing on knowledge acquisition and cognitive tasks, little research exists in learning models which target virtual mentoring and coaching with the help of pedagogical agents and address the social dimensions of learning. Research from studies with students in the context of formal education has already provided methods for designing intelligent virtual agents in support of personalised learning. However, this research has mostly focused on cognitive skills and has not yet been applied to the context of mentoring/coaching of senior learners, who have different characteristics and learn in different contexts. In this paper, we describe how insights from previous research can be used to develop an intelligent virtual learning coach (agent) for senior learners with a focus on building the social relationship between the agent and the learner and the key task of the agent to socialize learners to the larger context of digital literacy with a focus on electronic health records. Following current approaches to mentoring and coaching, the agent is designed not to enhance and monitor the cognitive performance of the learner but to serve as a trusted friend and advisor, whose role is to provide one-to-one guidance and support sharing of experiences among learners (peers). Based on literature review and synopsis of research on virtual agents and current coaching/mentoring models under consideration of the specific characteristics and requirements of senior learners, we describe the design framework which was applied to design an intelligent virtual learning coach as part of the e-learning system for digital literacy of senior learners in the ePA-Coach project founded by the German Ministry of Education and Research. This paper also presents the results from the evaluation study, which compared the use of the first prototype of the virtual learning coach designed according to the design framework with a voice narration in a multimedia learning environment with senior learners. The focus of the study was to validate the agent design in the context of the persona effect (Lester et al., 1997). Since the persona effect is related to the hypothesis that animated agents are perceived as more socially engaging, the study evaluated possible impacts of agent coaching in comparison with voice coaching on motivation, engagement, experience, and digital literacy.

Keywords: virtual learning coach, virtual mentor, pedagogical agent, senior learners, digital literacy, electronic health records

Procedia PDF Downloads 117

Authors: Hui Chen, Huping Gong, Yalin Mao

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This paper mainly focuses on the Chinese registered nurses as the research object, and studies the role of Chinese registered nurses in the cognition and application experience of alternative medicine. In this study, nurses were interviewed, focusing on their views and exchanging experiences on the use of alternative medicine in their work. The researchers will use Colaizzi to analyze the collected data. Four main themes emerged from the interviews, namely: 1) the current state of alternative medicine in China, 2) Challenges faced by nurses, 3) How nurses overcome various difficulties, 4) Development of alternative medicine in China. Through the exchange of knowledge and practical experience of alternative medicine, registered nurses in China are not only participants in the application of alternative medicine but also play an active role in promoting its development.

Keywords: traditional Chinese medicine, alternative medicine, nurse, qualitative research

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Authors: Der-Feng Guo

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Optoelectronic switches have attracted a considerable attention in the semiconductor research field due to their potential applications in optical computing systems and optoelectronic integrated circuits (OEICs). With high gains and high-speed operations, npn heterostructures can be used to produce promising optoelectronic switches. It is known that the bulk barrier and heterostructure-induced potential spike act important roles in the characteristics of the npn heterostructures. To investigate the effects of bulk barrier and potential spike heights on the optoelectronic switching of the npn heterostructures, GaAs/InGaP and AlGaAs/GaAs/InAlGaP npn heterostructural optoelectronic switches (HSOSs) have been fabricated in this work. It is seen that the illumination decreases the switching voltage Vs and increases the switching current Is, and thus the OFF state is under dark and ON state under illumination in the optical switching of the GaAs/InGaP HSOS characteristics. But in the AlGaAs/GaAs/InAlGaP HSOS characteristics, the Vs and Is present contrary trends, and the OFF state is under illumination and ON state under dark. The studied HSOSs show quite different switching variations with incident light, which are mainly attributed to the bulk barrier and potential spike heights affected by photogenerated carriers.

Keywords: bulk barrier, heterostructure, optoelectronic switch, potential spike

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Authors: Robson C. Santos, David D. Oliveira, Matheus M. Reis, Gerson G. Cunha, Marcos A. C. Moreira

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The project demonstrates the construction of a solar power generation, integrated inverter equipment to a "Grid-Tie" by converting direct current generated by solar panels, into alternating current, the same parameters of frequency and voltage concessionaire distribution network. The energy generated is quantified by smart metering module that transmits the information in specified periods of time to a microcontroller via GSM modem. The modem provides the measured data on the internet, using networks and cellular antennas. The monitoring, fault detection and maintenance are performed by a supervisory station. Employed board types, best inverter selection and studies about control equipment and devices have been described. The article covers and explores the global trend of implementing smart distribution electrical energy networks and the incentive to use solar renewable energy. There is the possibility of the excess energy produced by the system be purchased by the local power utility. This project was implemented in residences in the rural community of the municipality of Cabo Frio/RJ. Data could be seen through daily measurements during the month of November 2013.

Keywords: rural residence, supervisory, smart grid, solar energy

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Authors: Won Jung, Azianti Ismail

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Functional safety is about electrical, electronics, and programmable electronic safety-related system focuses on the potential risk of malfunction which may have a significant impact on the safety of humans and/or the environment based on IEC 61508. In November 2011, the automotive industry has been introduced to automotive functional safety ISO 26262 which addresses the complete safety installation from sensor to actuator with its technical as well as management issues. Nowadays, most of the modern automobiles are equipped with embedded electronic systems which include many Electronic Controller Units (ECUs), electronic sensors, signals, bus systems and coding. Due to upcoming more sophisticated systems installed in automobiles, the need to carry out detailed safety is very crucial. Assimilation of existing practices with this new standard is a major challenge for the automotive industry in reducing redundancy, time and resources. Therefore, this paper will analyze the research trends on pre and post introduction of ISO 26262 through publications as well as to take a glimpse in the activities for implementing this standard by the automotive manufacturers around the world. It is going to highlight issues and challenges which have been discussed among the experts in this field. Even though it will take some time for this standard to be fully implemented, the benefits from this implementation will raise the competitiveness in the global automotive market.

Keywords: ISO 26262, automotive, functional safety, implementation, standard, challenges

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Authors: Guiheng Zhang, Wei Zhang, Jun Fu, Yudong Wang

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A 900 MHz three-stage SiGe power amplifier (PA) with high power gain is presented in this paper. Volterra Series is applied to analyze nonlinearity sources of SiGe HBT device model clearly. Meanwhile, the influence of operating current to IMD3 is discussed. Then a β-helper current mirror bias circuit is applied to improve linearity, since the β-helper current mirror bias circuit can offer stable base biasing voltage. Meanwhile, it can also work as predistortion circuit when biasing voltages of three bias circuits are fine-tuned, by this way, the power gain and operating current of PA are optimized for best linearity. The three power stages which fabricated by 0.18 μm SiGe technology are bonded to the printed circuit board (PCB) to obtain impedances by Load-Pull system, then matching networks are done for best linearity with discrete passive components on PCB. The final measured three-stage PA exhibits 21.1 dBm of output power at 1 dB compression point (OP1dB) with power added efficiency (PAE) of 20.6% and 33 dB power gain under 3.3 V power supply voltage.

Keywords: high gain power amplifier, linearization bias circuit, SiGe HBT model, Volterra series

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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: Peter E. Egielewa

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Communication through the smartphone connects people globally. However, since the last 10 years, there has been an increasing shift from the social engagement in the family to the digital mediated communication aided by the smartphone. The traditional family communication had largely been oral and relational, which the smartphone is now digitally mediating. The study employs mixed research method of quantitative and qualitative research design and deploys questionnaire to elicit responses from both parents and children of 50 purposively selected families from five villages in Southern Nigeria that are very active with smartphone use. Based on the Theory of Family Systems, preliminary findings show that the smartphone is becoming an addiction among Nigerian family members and has shifted the dynamics of family communication from relational to digital culture. The research concludes that smartphone use affects family communication negatively and recommends the moderation of smartphone use in the family and the search for alternative platforms for family communication that minimises smartphone addiction.

Keywords: digital, distorted communication, family, Nigeria, smartphone

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: Haruna Daddau

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This study investigates the effect of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) on the performance of agricultural firms in Nigeria. Green packaging, product design, waste reduction and supply chain design were examined. The ecological modernization theory, which suggests the economic benefit of the environment, was used to underpin the study. The research is quantitative in nature, and a survey research method was adopted where information was obtained using questionnaires distributed directly to the top managers of 6 agricultural firms in Nigeria. STATA and SPSS were used for the data analysis, and regression analysis was used to examine the effects. Findings showed that SSCM positively improves the performance of the firms. Also, detailed information about the study’s selected variables' effect on performance was provided. Additionally, the significant role of SSCM in accelerating the firms’ performance was highlighted. It is recommended that SSCM should be given serious attention by integrating it into the overall firm's business strategy.

Keywords: sustainable supply chain management, green packaging, product design, waste reduction, supply chain design and performance

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Authors: Azam Salimi, Majid Delshad

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This paper presents a modified design of a sliding mode controller based on fuzzy logic for a New ZVThigh step up DC-DC Converter . Here a proportional - integral (PI)-type current mode control is employed and a sliding mode controller is designed utilizing fuzzy algorithm. Sliding mode controller guarantees robustness against all variations and fuzzy logic helps to reduce chattering phenomenon due to sliding controller, in that way efficiency increases and error, voltage and current ripples decreases. The proposed system is simulated using MATLAB / SIMULINK. This model is tested under variations of input and reference voltages and it was found that in comparison with conventional sliding mode controllers they perform better.

Keywords: switching mode power supplies, DC-DC converters, sliding mode control, robustness, fuzzy control, current mode control, non-linear behavior

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Authors: Kocakaya Eda, Argun Doğan

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This study analyzed the present state of information technology in the field of accounting by bibliometric analysis of scientific studies on the impact on the transformation of e-billing and tax managementin Turkey. With comparative bibliometric analysis, the innovation and positive effects of the process that changed with e-transformation in the field of accounting with e-transformation in businesses and the information technologies used in accounting and tax management were analyzed comparatively. By evaluating the data obtained as a result of these analyzes, suggestions on the use of information technologies in accounting and tax management and the positive and negative effects of e-transformation on the analyzed activities of the enterprises were emphasized. With the e-transformation, which will be realized with the most efficient use of information technologies in Turkey. The synergy and efficiency of IT technology developments in avcoounting and finance should be revealed in the light of scientific data, from the smallest business to the largest economic enterprises.

Keywords: information technologies, E-invoice, E-Tax management, E-transformation, accounting programs

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Authors: Hanady Al-Zagheer

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

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

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Authors: Guenther Schuh, Sebastian Woelk

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Companies face increasing challenges in research due to higher costs and risks. The intensifying technology complexity and interdisciplinarity require unique know-how. Therefore, companies need to decide whether research shall be conducted internally or externally with partners. On the other hand, research institutes meet increasing efforts to achieve good financing and to maintain high research reputation. Therefore, relevant research topics need to be identified and specialization of competency is necessary. However, additional competences for solving interdisciplinary research projects are also often required. Secured financing can be achieved by bonding industry partners as well as public fundings. The realization of faster and better research drives companies and research institutes to cooperate in organized research networks, which are managed by an administrative organization. For an effective and efficient cooperation, necessary processes, roles, tools and a set of rules need to be determined. The goal of this paper is to show the state-of-art research and to propose a governance framework for organized research networks.

Keywords: interorganizational cooperation, design of network governance, research network

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Authors: Adamu Abdullahi, On Francisca, Saidu Isah Rambo, G. N. Obunadike, D. T. Chinyio

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The paper discusses the potential threat of Denial of Service (DoS) attacks in the Internet of Things (IoT) networks on constrained application protocols (CoAP). As billions of IoT devices are expected to be connected to the internet in the coming years, the security of these devices is vulnerable to attacks, disrupting their functioning. This research aims to tackle this issue by applying mixed methods of qualitative and quantitative for feature selection, extraction, and cluster algorithms to detect DoS attacks in the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) using the Machine Learning Algorithm (MLA). The main objective of the research is to enhance the security scheme for CoAP in the IoT environment by analyzing the nature of DoS attacks and identifying a new set of features for detecting them in the IoT network environment. The aim is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the MLA in detecting DoS attacks and compare it with conventional intrusion detection systems for securing the CoAP in the IoT environment. Findings: The research identifies the appropriate node to detect DoS attacks in the IoT network environment and demonstrates how to detect the attacks through the MLA. The accuracy detection in both classification and network simulation environments shows that the k-means algorithm scored the highest percentage in the training and testing of the evaluation. The network simulation platform also achieved the highest percentage of 99.93% in overall accuracy. This work reviews conventional intrusion detection systems for securing the CoAP in the IoT environment. The DoS security issues associated with the CoAP are discussed.

Keywords: algorithm, CoAP, DoS, IoT, machine learning

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Authors: Frederico Fialho Teixeira, Islam Mashaly, Maryam Shafiei, Jurij Karlovsek

Abstract:

The ubiquity of data gathering and smart technologies, advancements in virtual technologies, and the development of the internet of things (IoT) have created urgent demands for the development of frameworks and efficient workflows for data collection, visualisation, and analysis. Digital twin, in different scales of the city into the building, allows for bringing together data from different sources to generate fundamental and illuminating insights for the management of current facilities and the lifecycle of amenities as well as improvement of the performance of current and future designs. Over the past two decades, there has been growing interest in the topic of digital twin and their applications in city and building scales. Most such studies look at the urban environment through a homogeneous or generalist lens and lack specificity in particular characteristics or identities, which define an urban university campus. Bridging this knowledge gap, this paper offers a framework for developing a digital twin for a university campus that, with some modifications, could provide insights for any large-scale digital twin settings like towns and cities. It showcases how currently unused data could be purposefully combined, interpolated and visualised for producing analysis-ready data (such as flood or energy simulations or functional and occupancy maps), highlighting the potential applications of such a framework for campus planning and policymaking. The research integrates campus-level data layers into one spatial information repository and casts light on critical data clusters for the digital twin at the campus level. The paper also seeks to raise insightful and directive questions on how digital twin for campus can be extrapolated to city-scale digital twin. The outcomes of the paper, thus, inform future projects for the development of large-scale digital twin as well as urban and architectural researchers on potential applications of digital twin in future design, management, and sustainable planning, to predict problems, calculate risks, decrease management costs, and improve performance.

Keywords: digital twin, smart campus, framework, data collection, point cloud

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Authors: Hamed Belloumi, Aymen Ammouri, Ferid Kourda

Abstract:

A new trend in power converters is to design planar transformer that aim for low profile. However, at high frequency, the planar transformer ac losses become significant due to the proximity and skin effects. In this paper, the design and implementation of a novel planar litz conductor is presented in order to equalize the flux linkage and improving the current distribution. The developed PCB litz wire structure minimizes the losses in a similar way to the conventional multi stranded litz wires. In order to further illustrate the eddy current effect in different arrangements, a finite-element analysis (FEA) tool is used to analyze current distribution inside the conductors. Finally, the proposed planar transformer has been integrated in an electronic stage to test at high signal levels.

Keywords: planar transformer, finite-element analysis (FEA), winding losses, planar litz wire

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Authors: Arellano Karina, Diego Avila-Pesántez, Leticia Vaca-Cárdenas, Alberto Arellano, Carmen Mantilla

Abstract:

Nowadays, security threats in Voice over IP (VoIP) systems are an essential and latent concern for people in charge of security in a corporate network, because, every day, new Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks are developed. These affect the business continuity of an organization, regarding confidentiality, availability, and integrity of services, causing frequent losses of both information and money. The purpose of this study is to establish the necessary measures to mitigate DoS threats, which affect the availability of VoIP systems, based on the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). A Security Model called MS-DoS-SIP is proposed, which is based on two approaches. The first one analyzes the recommendations of international security standards. The second approach takes into account weaknesses and threats. The implementation of this model in a VoIP simulated system allowed to minimize the present vulnerabilities in 92% and increase the availability time of the VoIP service into an organization.

Keywords: Denial-of-Service SIP attacks, MS-DoS-SIP, security model, VoIP-SIP vulnerabilities

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Authors: Dominic Huschke, Rudolf Keil

Abstract:

New driving functionalities like highly automated driving have a major impact on the electrics/electronics architecture of future vehicles and inevitably lead to higher safety requirements. Partly due to these increased requirements, the vehicle industry is increasingly looking at semiconductor switches as an alternative to conventional melting fuses. The protective functionality of semiconductor switches can be implemented in hardware as well as in software. A current approach discussed in science and industry is the implementation of a model of the protected low voltage power cable on a microcontroller to calculate its temperature. Here, the information regarding the current is provided by the continuous current measurement of the semiconductor switch. The signal to open the semiconductor switch is provided by the microcontroller when a previously defined limit for the temperature of the low voltage power cable is exceeded. A setup for the testing of the described principle for electronic fuse protection of a low voltage power cable is built and successfullyvalidated with experiments afterwards. Here, the evaluation criterion is the deviation of the measured temperature of the low voltage power cable from the specified limit temperature when the semiconductor switch is opened. The analysis is carried out with an assumed ambient temperature as well as with a measured ambient temperature. Subsequently, the experimentally performed investigations are simulated in a virtual environment. The explicit focus is on the simulation of the behavior of the microcontroller with an implemented model of a low voltage power cable in a real-time environment. Subsequently, the generated results are compared with those of the experiments. Based on this, the completely virtual design of the described approach is assumed to be valid.

Keywords: automotive wire harness, electronic fuse protection, low voltage power cable, semiconductor-based fuses, software-based validation

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Authors: Fulufhelo Oscar Maphiri-Makananise

Abstract:

The main purpose of this paper is to explore and provide substantiated evidence based on the usage patterns of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) by females in the Vhembe District in Limpopo-Province, South Africa. The study presents a broader picture and understanding about the usage of ICTs from female’s perspective. The significance of this study stems from the need to discover the role, relevance and usage patterns of ICTs such as smartphones, computers, laptops, and iPods, internet and social networking sites among females following the trends of new media technologies in the society. The main objective of the study was to investigate the usability and accessibility of ICTs to empower the Vhembe District females in South Africa. The study used quantitative research method together with elements of qualitative research to determine the major ideas, perceptions and usage patterns of ICTs by females in the District. Data collection involved structured and self-administered questionnaire with both closed-ended and open-ended questions. Two groups of respondents participated in this study. Media Studies female students (n=50) at the University of Venda provided their ideas and perceptions about the usefulness and usage patterns of ICTs such as smartphones, internet and computers at the university level, while the second group were (n=50) Makhado comprehensive school learners who also provided their perceptions and ideas about the use of ICTs at the high school level. Also, the study provides a more balanced, accurate and rational results on the pertinent issues that concern the use of ICTs by females in the Vhembe District. The researcher also believes that the findings of the study are useful as a guideline and model for ICT intervention that work as an empowerment to women in South Africa. The study showed that the main purpose of using ICTs by females was to search information for writing assignments, conducting research, dating, exchanging ideas and networking with friends and relatives that are also members of social networking sites and maintaining existing friends in real life. The study further revealed that most females were using ICTs for social purposes and accessing the internet than entertaining themselves. The finding also indicated a high number of females that used ICTs for e-learning (62%) and social purposes (85%). Moreover, the study centred on providing strong insightful information on the females’ usage patterns and their perceptions of ICTs in the Vhembe district of Limpopo province.

Keywords: female users, information and communication technologies, internet, usage patterns

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