Search results for: human resources
2714 Coastline Change at Koh Tao Island, Thailand
Authors: Cherdvong Saengsupavanich
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Human utilizes coastal resources as well as deteriorates them. Coastal tourism may degrade the environment if poorly managed. This research investigated the shoreline change at Koa Toa Island, one of the most famous tourist destinations. Aerial photographs and satellite images from three different periods were collected and analyzed. The results showed that the noticeable shoreline change before and after the tourism on the island had expanded. Between 1995 and 2002 when the tourism on Koh Toa Island was not intensive, sediment deposition occurred along most of the coastline. However, after the tourism had grown during 2002 to 2015, the coast evidently experienced less deposition and more erosion. The erosion resulted from less land-based sediment being provided to the littoral system. If the coastline of Koh Toa Island is not carefully sustained, the tourism will disappear along with the beautiful beach.Keywords: Coastal erosion, coastal tourism, Koh Toa Island, Thailand, coastal engineering and management.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 29452713 Inhibition Effect of Brazilin to Human Bladder Cancer Cell Line T24
Authors: Liansheng Ren, Xihua Yang, Guoping Wang, Hong Zhang, Lili Zhao, Zhenguo Mi
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The inhibition effect of brazilin to human bladder tumor cell line T24 in vitro and in vivo was studied. The results of the in vitro experiments showed that brazilin has strong inhibition activity on the target cells. The inhibition ratio of 100 μg/mL brazilin and 100 μg/mL mitomycin to the target cells was 90.90 % and 63.24 % respectively, which showed that brazilin has higher inhibition activity than mitomycin under the same concentration. Brazilin could induce cell apoptosis in T24 cells. Significant antitumor activity of brazilin was also showed in the animals experiments. The life extention rate of 200 mg/mL, 300 mg/kg, and 400 mg/kg brazilin intraperitoneally injected into Balb/c-nu-nu nude mice that with human bladder cancer were 51.50 %, 56.90 %, and 58.42 %(P<0.05). Our study showed that brazilin has significant inhibitory effect on human bladder tumor cell.Keywords: bladder cancer, brazilin, inhibition, T24 cell line
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21902712 Challenges of Sustainable Marine Fishing in Ghana
Authors: Eric K. W. Aikins
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Traditionally, Ghana is a marine fishing country. The fishing industry dominated by artisanal marine fishing helps Ghana to meet its fish and protein requirements. Also, it provides employment for most coastal dwellers that depend on fishing as their main economic enterprise. Nonetheless, the marine fishing industry is confronted with challenges that have contributed to a declining fish production in recent past decade. Bad fishing practices and the general limited knowledge on sustainable management of fisheries resources are the limiting factors that affect sustainable fish production and sustainable marine biodiversity management in Ghana. This paper discusses the challenges and strategies for attaining and maintaining sustainable marine fishing in Ghana as well as the state of marine fishing in Ghana. It concludes that an increase in the level of involvement of local fishers in the management of fisheries resources of the country could help local fishers to employ sustainable fisheries resources exploitation methods that could result in an improvement in the spatio-economic development and wellbeing of affected fishing communities in particular and Ghana in general.
Keywords: Pair trawling, sargassum, spatio-economic development, sustainable marine fishing.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16632711 Human Trafficking: The Kosovar Perspective of Fighting the Phenomena through Police and Civil Society Cooperation
Authors: Samedin Mehmeti
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The rationale behind this study is considering combating and preventing the phenomenon of trafficking in human beings from a multidisciplinary perspective that involves many layers of the society. Trafficking in human beings is an abhorrent phenomenon highly affecting negatively the victims and their families in both human and material aspect, sometimes causing irreversible damages. The longer term effects of this phenomenon, in countries with a weak economic development and extremely young and dynamic population, such as Kosovo, without proper measures to prevented and control can cause tremendous damages in the society. Given the fact that a complete eradication of this phenomenon is almost impossible, efforts should be concentrated at least on the prevention and controlling aspects. Treating trafficking in human beings based on traditional police tactics, methods and proceedings cannot bring satisfactory results. There is no doubt that a multi-disciplinary approach is an irreplaceable requirement, in other words, a combination of authentic and functional proactive and reactive methods, techniques and tactics. Obviously, police must exercise its role in preventing and combating trafficking in human beings, a role sanctioned by the law, however, police role and contribution cannot by any means considered complete if all segments of the society are not included in these efforts. Naturally, civil society should have an important share in these collaborative and interactive efforts especially in preventive activities such as: awareness on trafficking risks and damages, proactive engagement in drafting appropriate legislation and strategies, law enforcement monitoring and direct or indirect involvement in protective and supporting activities which benefit the victims of trafficking etc.Keywords: Civil society, cooperation, police, trafficking in human beings.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16352710 Studying the Spatial Variations of Stable Isotopes (18O and 2H) in Precipitation and Groundwater Resources in Zagros Region
Authors: Mojtaba Heydarizad
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Zagros mountain range is a very important precipitation zone in Iran as it receives high average annual precipitation compared to other parts of this country. Although this region is important precipitation zone in semi-arid an arid country like Iran, accurate method to study water resources in this region has not been applied yet. In this study, stable isotope δ18O content of precipitation and groundwater resources showed spatial variations across Zagros region as southern parts of Zagros region showed more enriched isotope values compared to the northern parts. This is normal as southern Zagros region is much drier with higher air temperature and evaporation compared to northern parts. In addition, the spatial variations of stable isotope δ18O in precipitation in Zagros region have been simulated by the models which consider the altitude and latitude variations as input to simulate δ18O in precipitation.Keywords: Groundwater, precipitation, simulation, stable isotopes, Zagros region.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6702709 An Ant Colony Optimization for Dynamic JobScheduling in Grid Environment
Authors: Siriluck Lorpunmanee, Mohd Noor Sap, Abdul Hanan Abdullah, Chai Chompoo-inwai
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Grid computing is growing rapidly in the distributed heterogeneous systems for utilizing and sharing large-scale resources to solve complex scientific problems. Scheduling is the most recent topic used to achieve high performance in grid environments. It aims to find a suitable allocation of resources for each job. A typical problem which arises during this task is the decision of scheduling. It is about an effective utilization of processor to minimize tardiness time of a job, when it is being scheduled. This paper, therefore, addresses the problem by developing a general framework of grid scheduling using dynamic information and an ant colony optimization algorithm to improve the decision of scheduling. The performance of various dispatching rules such as First Come First Served (FCFS), Earliest Due Date (EDD), Earliest Release Date (ERD), and an Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) are compared. Moreover, the benefit of using an Ant Colony Optimization for performance improvement of the grid Scheduling is also discussed. It is found that the scheduling system using an Ant Colony Optimization algorithm can efficiently and effectively allocate jobs to proper resources.Keywords: Grid computing, Distributed heterogeneous system, Ant colony optimization algorithm, Grid scheduling, Dispatchingrules.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 27062708 Fisheries Education in Karnataka: Trends, Current Status, Performance and Prospects
Authors: A. Vinay, Mary Josephine, Shreesha. S. Rao, Dhande Kranthi Kumar, J. Nandini
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This paper looks at the development of Fisheries education in Karnataka and the supply of skilled human capital to the sector. The study tries to analyse their job occupancy patterns, Compound Growth Rate (CGR) and forecasts the fisheries graduates supply using the Holt method. In Karnataka, fisheries are one of the neglected allied sectors of agriculture in spite of having enormous scope and potential to contribute to the State's agriculture GDP. The State Government has been negligent in absorbing skilled human capital for the development of fisheries, as there are so many vacant positions in both education institutes, as well as the State fisheries department. CGR and forecasting of fisheries graduates shows a positive growth rate and increasing trend, from which we can understand that by proper utilization of skilled human capital can bring development in the fisheries sector of Karnataka.Keywords: Compound growth rate, fisheries education, Holt method, skilled human capital.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14722707 From Risk/Security Analysis via Timespace to a Model of Human Vulnerability and Human Security
Authors: Anders Troedsson
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For us humans, risk and insecurity are intimately linked to vulnerabilities - where there is vulnerability, there is potentially risk and insecurity. Reducing vulnerability through compensatory measures means decreasing the likelihood of a certain external event be qualified as a risk/threat/assault, and thus also means increasing the individual’s sense of security. The paper suggests that a meaningful way to approach the study of risk/ insecurity is to organize thinking about the vulnerabilities that external phenomena evoke in humans as perceived by them. Such phenomena are, through a set of given vulnerabilities, potentially translated into perceptions of "insecurity." An ontological discussion about salient timespace characteristics of external phenomena as perceived by humans, including such which potentially can be qualified as risk/threat/assault, leads to the positing of two dimensions which are central for describing what in the paper is called the essence of risk/threat/assault. As is argued, such modeling helps analysis steer free of the subjective factor which is intimately connected to human perception and which mediates between phenomena “out there” potentially identified as risk/threat/assault, and their translation into an experience of security or insecurity. A proposed set of universally given vulnerabilities are scrutinized with the help of the two dimensions, resulting in a modeling effort featuring four realms of vulnerabilities which together represent a dynamic whole. This model in turn informs modeling on human security.
Keywords: Human vulnerabilities, human security, inert-immediate, material-immaterial, timespace.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10532706 Towards a New Era of Sustainability in the Automotive Industry: Strategic Human Resource Management and Green Technology Innovation
Authors: Reihaneh Montazeri Shatouri, Rosmini Omar, Kunio Igusa
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Although automotive industry has brought different beneficiaries to human life, it is being pointed out as one of the major cause of global air pollution which resulted in climate change, smog, green house gases (GHGs), and human diseases by many reasons. Since auto industry is one of the largest consumers of fossil fuels, the realization of green innovations is becoming a crucial choice to meet the challenges towards sustainable development. Recently, many auto manufacturers have embarked on green technology initiatives to gain a competitive advantage in the global market; however, innovative manufacturing systems and technologies can enhance operational performance only if the human resource management is in place to elicit the motivation of the employees and develop their organizational expertise. No organization can perform at peak levels unless each employee is committed to the company goals and works as an effective team member. Strategic human resource practices are the primary means by which firms can shape the skills, attitudes, and behavior of individuals to align with the business strategic objectives. This study investigates on the comprehensive approach of multiple advanced technology innovations and human resource management at Toyota Motor Corporation as the market leader of full hybrid technology in the automotive industry. Then, HRM framework of the company is described and three sets of human resource practices that support the innovation-oriented HR system, presented. Finally, a conceptual framework for innovativeness in green technology in automotive industry by applying a deliberate strategic HR management system and knowledge management with the intervening factors of organizational culture, knowledge application and knowledge sharing is proposed.
Keywords: Automotive Industry, Green Technology, Innovation, Strategic Human Resource Management
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 52602705 Human Facial Expression Recognition using MANFIS Model
Authors: V. Gomathi, Dr. K. Ramar, A. Santhiyaku Jeevakumar
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Facial expression analysis plays a significant role for human computer interaction. Automatic analysis of human facial expression is still a challenging problem with many applications. In this paper, we propose neuro-fuzzy based automatic facial expression recognition system to recognize the human facial expressions like happy, fear, sad, angry, disgust and surprise. Initially facial image is segmented into three regions from which the uniform Local Binary Pattern (LBP) texture features distributions are extracted and represented as a histogram descriptor. The facial expressions are recognized using Multiple Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (MANFIS). The proposed system designed and tested with JAFFE face database. The proposed model reports 94.29% of classification accuracy.Keywords: Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system, Facialexpression, Local binary pattern, Uniform Histogram
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21032704 Interactive Effects in Blended Learning Mode: Exploring Hybrid Data Sources and Iterative Linkages
Authors: Hock Chuan, Lim
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This paper presents an approach for identifying interactive effects using Network Science (NS) supported by Social Network Analysis (SNA) techniques. Based on general observations that learning processes and behaviors are shaped by the social relationships and influenced by learning environment, the central idea was to understand both the human and non-human interactive effects for a blended learning mode of delivery of computer science modules. Important findings include (a) the importance of non-human nodes to influence the centrality and transfer; (b) the degree of non-human and human connectivity impacts learning. This project reveals that the NS pattern and connectivity as measured by node relationships offer alternative approach for hypothesis generation and design of qualitative data collection. An iterative process further reinforces the analysis, whereas the experimental simulation option itself is an interesting alternative option, a hybrid combination of both experimental simulation and qualitative data collection presents itself as a promising and viable means to study complex scenario such as blended learning delivery mode. The primary value of this paper lies in the design of the approach for studying interactive effects of human (social nodes) and non-human (learning/study environment, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) infrastructures nodes) components. In conclusion, this project adds to the understanding and the use of SNA to model and study interactive effects in blended social learning.
Keywords: Blended learning, network science, social learning, social network analysis, study environment.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6602703 Decision Location and Resource Requirement for Relief Goods Assembly
Authors: Glenda Minguito, Jenith Banluta
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One of the critical aspects of humanitarian operations is the distribution of relief goods to an affected community. The common assumption is that relief goods are prepositioned during disasters which are not applicable in developing countries like the Philippines. During disasters, the on-the-ground government agencies and responders have to procure, sort, weigh and pack the relief goods. There is a need to review the relief goods preparation as it seriously affects the delivery of necessary aid for human survival. This study also identifies the ideal location of the assembly hub to minimize the distance to the affected community. This paper reveals that location and resources are dependent on the type of disasters encountered at the local level. The Center-of-Gravity method and Multiple Activity Chart were applied in the analysis.
Keywords: Humanitarian supply chain, location decision, resource allocation, local level.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4592702 A Context-Sensitive Algorithm for Media Similarity Search
Authors: Guang-Ho Cha
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This paper presents a context-sensitive media similarity search algorithm. One of the central problems regarding media search is the semantic gap between the low-level features computed automatically from media data and the human interpretation of them. This is because the notion of similarity is usually based on high-level abstraction but the low-level features do not sometimes reflect the human perception. Many media search algorithms have used the Minkowski metric to measure similarity between image pairs. However those functions cannot adequately capture the aspects of the characteristics of the human visual system as well as the nonlinear relationships in contextual information given by images in a collection. Our search algorithm tackles this problem by employing a similarity measure and a ranking strategy that reflect the nonlinearity of human perception and contextual information in a dataset. Similarity search in an image database based on this contextual information shows encouraging experimental results.
Keywords: Context-sensitive search, image search, media search, similarity ranking, similarity search.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6412701 Anthropomorphism in Robotics Engineering for Disabled People
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In its attempt to offer new ways into autonomy for a large population of disabled people, assistive technology has largely been inspired by robotics engineering. Recent human-like robots carry new hopes that it seems to us necessary to analyze by means of a specific theory of anthropomorphism. We propose to distinguish a functional anthropomorphism which is the one of actual wheelchairs from a structural anthropomorphism based on a mimicking of human physiological systems. If functional anthropomorphism offers the main advantage of eliminating the physiological systems interdependence issue, the highly link between the robot for disabled people and their human-built environment would lead to privilege in the future the anthropomorphic structural way. In this future framework, we highlight a general interdependence principle : any partial or local structural anthropomorphism generates new anthropomorphic needs due to the physiological systems interdependency, whose effects can be evaluated by means of specific anthropomorphic criterions derived from a set theory-based approach of physiological systems.Keywords: Anthropomorphism, Human-like machines, Systemstheory, Disability.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19902700 A Semantic Assistant Agent for Digital Libraries
Authors: Mohamed Kholif, Suaad Awad Mohamed
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In this paper we present semantic assistant agent (SAA), an open source digital library agent which takes user query for finding information in the digital library and takes resources- metadata and stores it semantically. SAA uses Semantic Web to improve browsing and searching for resources in digital library. All metadata stored in the library are available in RDF format for querying and processing by SemanSreach which is a part of SAA architecture. The architecture includes a generic RDF-based model that represents relationships among objects and their components. Queries against these relationships are supported by an RDF triple store.Keywords: Digital Library, Dublin Core, Ontology, Semantic web.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17682699 Optimization of Human Comfort Reaction for Suspended Cabin Tractor Semitrailer Drivers
Authors: L.A.Kumaraswamidhas, P.Velmurugan, K.Sankaranarayanasamy
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This work has been conducted to study on comfort level of drivers of suspended cabin tractor semitrailer. Some drivers suffer from low back pain caused by vibration. The practical significance of applying suspended cabin type of tractor semi trailer was tested at different road conditions, different speed as well as different load conditions for comfortable driver seat interface (x, y, z ) and the process parameters have been prioritized using Taguchi-s L27 orthogonal array. Genetic Algorithm (GA) is used to optimize the human comfort vibration of suspended cabin tractor semitrailer drivers. The practical significance of applying GA to human comfort to reaction of suspended cabin tractor semitrailer has been validated by means of computing the deviation between predicted and experimentally obtained human comfort to vibration. The optimized acceleration data indicate a little uncomfortable ride for suspended cabin tractor semitrailer.
Keywords: Genetic Algorithm, Ride Comfort, Taguchi Method, Tractor Semitrailer
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 25592698 Human Intraocular Thermal Field in Action with Different Boundary Conditions Considering Aqueous Humor and Vitreous Humor Fluid Flow
Authors: Dara Singh, Keikhosrow Firouzbakhsh, Mohammad Taghi Ahmadian
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In this study, a validated 3D finite volume model of human eye is developed to study the fluid flow and heat transfer in the human eye at steady state conditions. For this purpose, discretized bio-heat transfer equation coupled with Boussinesq equation is analyzed with different anatomical, environmental, and physiological conditions. It is demonstrated that the fluid circulation is formed as a result of thermal gradients in various regions of eye. It is also shown that posterior region of the human eye is less affected by the ambient conditions compared to the anterior segment which is sensitive to the ambient conditions and also to the way the gravitational field is defined compared to the geometry of the eye making the circulations and the thermal field complicated in transient states. The effect of variation in material and boundary conditions guides us to the conclusion that thermal field of a healthy and non-healthy eye can be distinguished via computer simulations.
Keywords: Bio-heat, Boussinesq, conduction, convection, eye.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8692697 Tuned Mass Damper Effects of Stationary People on Structural Damping of Footbridge Due to Dynamic Interaction in Vertical Motion
Authors: M. Yoneda
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It is known that stationary human occupants act as dynamic mass-spring-damper systems and can change the modal properties of civil engineering structures. This paper describes the full scale measurement to explain the tuned mass damper effects of stationary people on structural damping of footbridge with center span length of 33 m. A human body can be represented by a lumped system consisting of masses, springs, and dashpots. Complex eigenvalue calculation is also conducted by using ISO5982:1981 human model (two degree of freedom system). Based on experimental and analytical results for the footbridge with the stationary people in the standing position, it is demonstrated that stationary people behave as a tuned mass damper and that ISO5982:1981 human model can explain the structural damping characteristics measured in the field.Keywords: Dynamic interaction, footbridge, stationary people, structural damping.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11172696 Modern System of Employees Remuneration and its Use by Organizations in one of Czech Republic Regions
Authors: Petra Horváthová, Marie Mikušová
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The aim of the article is to describe modern contemporary systems of employees' remuneration used in organizations, to give a general overview of these questions based on the questionnaire survey made by the authors, as well as to assess possible effects of economic crisis in this area. It is necessary to be aware of the fact that firm's success in the contemporary business environment depends not only on the technical equipment, financial resources, availability of raw materials and information and effective management, but one of the crucial factors of firm's success is its human potential. The article emphasizes that the well working remuneration system has a very important position in the organization in the broadest sense. The paper also aims to the current situation in the area of employees' remuneration in one of Czech Republic regions, in the Moravian-Silesian Region.Keywords: Benefits, remuneration system, total pay, variable pay.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 38312695 Analysis of Event-related Response in Human Visual Cortex with fMRI
Authors: Ayesha Zaman, Tanvir Atahary, Shahida Rafiq
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Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging(fMRI) is a noninvasive imaging technique that measures the hemodynamic response related to neural activity in the human brain. Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (efMRI) is a form of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) in which a series of fMRI images are time-locked to a stimulus presentation and averaged together over many trials. Again an event related potential (ERP) is a measured brain response that is directly the result of a thought or perception. Here the neuronal response of human visual cortex in normal healthy patients have been studied. The patients were asked to perform a visual three choice reaction task; from the relative response of each patient corresponding neuronal activity in visual cortex was imaged. The average number of neurons in the adult human primary visual cortex, in each hemisphere has been estimated at around 140 million. Statistical analysis of this experiment was done with SPM5(Statistical Parametric Mapping version 5) software. The result shows a robust design of imaging the neuronal activity of human visual cortex.Keywords: Echo Planner Imaging, Event related Response, General Linear Model, Visual Neuronal Response.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14582694 Towards An Extended International HRM Model for Emerging Multinational Enterprises
Authors: Connie Zheng
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This paper critiques several exiting strategic international human resource management (SIHRM) frameworks and discusses their limitations to apply directly to emerging multinational enterprises (EMNEs), especially those generated from China and other BRICS nations. To complement the existing SIHRM frameworks, key variables relevant to emerging economies are identified and the extended model with particular reference to EMNEs is developed with several research propositions. It is believed that the extended model would better capture the recent development of MNEs in transition, and alert emerging international managers to address several human resource management challenges in the global contextKeywords: China, human resource, MNEs, strategy
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 33612693 Hydrologic Balance and Surface Water Resources of the Cheliff-Zahrez Basin
Authors: Mehaiguene Madjid, Touhari Fadhila, Meddi Mohamed
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The Cheliff basin offers a good hydrological example for the possibility of studying the problem which elucidated in the future, because of the unclearity in several aspects and hydraulic installation. Thus, our study of the Cheliff basin is divided into two principal parts: The spatial evaluation of the precipitation: also, the understanding of the modes of the reconstitution of the resource in water supposes a good knowledge of the structuring of the precipitation fields in the studied space. In the goal of a good knowledge of revitalizes them in water and their management integrated one judged necessary to establish a precipitation card of the Cheliff basin for a good understanding of the evolution of the resource in water in the basin and that goes will serve as basis for all study of hydraulic planning in the Cheliff basin. Then, the establishment of the precipitation card of the Cheliff basin answered a direct need of setting to the disposition of the researchers for the region and a document of reference that will be completed therefore and actualized. The hydrological study, based on the statistical hydrometric data processing will lead us to specify the hydrological terms of the assessment hydrological and to clarify the fundamental aspects of the annual flow, seasonal, extreme and thus of their variability and resources surface water.
Keywords: Hydrological assessment, surface water resources, Cheliff, Algeria.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10482692 Incorporating Circular Economy into Passive Design Strategies in Tropical Nigeria
Authors: Noah G. Akhimien, Eshrar Latif
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The natural environment is in need for an urgent rescue due to dilapidation and recession of resources. Passive design strategies have proven to be one of the effective ways to reduce CO2 emissions and to improve building performance. On the other hand, there is a huge drop in material availability due to poor recycling culture. Consequently, building waste pose environmental hazard due to unrecycled building materials from construction and deconstruction. Buildings are seen to be material banks for a circular economy, therefore incorporating circular economy into passive housing will not only safe guide the climate but also improve resource efficiency. The study focuses on incorporating a circular economy in passive design strategies for an affordable energy and resource efficient residential building in Nigeria. Carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration is still on the increase as buildings are responsible for a significant amount of this emission globally. Therefore, prompt measures need to be taken to combat the effect of global warming and associated threats. Nigeria is rapidly growing in human population, resources on the other hand have receded greatly, and there is an abrupt need for recycling even in the built environment. It is necessary that Nigeria responds to these challenges effectively and efficiently considering building resource and energy. Passive design strategies were assessed using simulations to obtain qualitative and quantitative data which were inferred to case studies as it relates to the Nigeria climate. Building materials were analysed using the ReSOLVE model in order to explore possible recycling phase. This provided relevant information and strategies to illustrate the possibility of circular economy in passive buildings. The study offers an alternative approach, as it is the general principle for the reworking of an economy on ecological lines in passive housing and by closing material loops in circular economy.
Keywords: Building, circular economy, efficiency, passive design, sustainability.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7412691 Hybrid Authentication Scheme for Graphical Password Using QR Code and Integrated Sound Signature
Authors: Salim Istyaq, Mohammad Sarosh Umar
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Today, the mankind is in the stage of development, every day comes with new proposal of technology, in order to secure these types of technology, we also prepare high yielding security modules to conserve these resources. The capacity of human brain to recognize anything is far more than any species; this is all due to our developing cycle of curiosity. In this paper, we proposed a scheme based on graphical password using QR Code which provides more security to the recent online system. It also contains a supportive sound signature. In this system, authentication is done using sequence of images in QR code form. Users select one click-point per image with the help of QR scanner or recognizer. The encoded phrase in a QR code emphasizes the minimum probability of attacking via shoulder surfing or other attacks.
Keywords: Graphical password, QR code, sound signature, image authentication, cued click point.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7722690 Is HR in a State of Transition? An International Comparative Study on the Development of HR Competencies
Authors: Barbara Covarrubias Venegas, Sabine Groblschegg, Bernhard Klaus, Julia Domnanovich
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Research Objectives: The roles and activities of Human Resource Management (HRM) have changed a lot in the past years. Driven by a changing environment and therefore new business requirements, the scope of human resource (HR) activities has widened. The extent to which these activities should focus on strategic issues to support the long term success of a company has been discussed in science for many years. As many economies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) experienced a phase of transition after the socialist era and are now recovering from the 2008 global crisis it is needed to examine the current state of HR positioning. Furthermore a trend in HR work developing from rather administrative units to being strategic partners of management can be noticed. This leads to the question of better understanding the underlying competencies which are necessary to support organisations. This topic was addressed by the international study “HR Competencies in international comparison”. The quantitative survey was conducted by the Institute for Human Resources & Organisation of FHWien University of Applied Science of WKW (A) in cooperation with partner universities in the countries Bosnia- Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. Methodology: Using the questionnaire developed by Dave Ulrich we tested whether the HR Competency model can be used for Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. After performing confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis for the whole data set containing all five countries we could clearly distinguish between four competencies. In a further step our analysis focused on median and average comparisons between the HR competency dimensions. Conclusion: Our literature review, in alignment with other studies, shows a relatively rapid pace of development of HR Roles and HR Competencies in BCSS in the past decades. Comparing data from BCSS and Austria we still can notice that regards strategic orientation there is a lack in BCSS countries, thus competencies are not as developed as in Austria. This leads us to the tentative conclusion that HR has undergone a rapid change but is still in a State of Transition from being a rather administrative unit to performing the role of a strategic partner.Keywords: Comparative study, HR competencies, HRM, HR Roles.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21622689 Strengthening the HCI Approaches in the Software Development Process
Authors: Rogayah A. Majid, Nor Laila Md. Noor, Wan Adilah Wan Adnan
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User-Centered Design (UCD), Usability Engineering (UE) and Participatory Design (PD) are the common Human- Computer Interaction (HCI) approaches that are practiced in the software development process, focusing towards issues and matters concerning user involvement. It overlooks the organizational perspective of HCI integration within the software development organization. The Management Information Systems (MIS) perspective of HCI takes a managerial and organizational context to view the effectiveness of integrating HCI in the software development process. The Human-Centered Design (HCD) which encompasses all of the human aspects including aesthetic and ergonomic, is claimed as to provide a better approach in strengthening the HCI approaches to strengthen the software development process. In determining the effectiveness of HCD in the software development process, this paper presents the findings of a content analysis of HCI approaches by viewing those approaches as a technology which integrates user requirements, ranging from the top management to other stake holder in the software development process. The findings obtained show that HCD approach is a technology that emphasizes on human, tools and knowledge in strengthening the HCI approaches to strengthen the software development process in the quest to produce a sustainable, usable and useful software product.
Keywords: Human-Centered Design (HCD), Management Information Systems (MIS), Participatory Design (PD), User- Centered Design (UCD), Usability Engineering (UE)
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22412688 A Review on Cloud Computing and Internet of Things
Authors: Sahar S. Tabrizi, Dogan Ibrahim
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Cloud Computing is a convenient model for on-demand networks that uses shared pools of virtual configurable computing resources, such as servers, networks, storage devices, applications, etc. The cloud serves as an environment for companies and organizations to use infrastructure resources without making any purchases and they can access such resources wherever and whenever they need. Cloud computing is useful to overcome a number of problems in various Information Technology (IT) domains such as Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Scientific Research, e-Governance Systems, Decision Support Systems, ERP, Web Application Development, Mobile Technology, etc. Companies can use Cloud Computing services to store large amounts of data that can be accessed from anywhere on Earth and also at any time. Such services are rented by the client companies where the actual rent depends upon the amount of data stored on the cloud and also the amount of processing power used in a given time period. The resources offered by the cloud service companies are flexible in the sense that the user companies can increase or decrease their storage requirements or the processing power requirements at any time, thus minimizing the overall rental cost of the service they receive. In addition, the Cloud Computing service providers offer fast processors and applications software that can be shared by their clients. This is especially important for small companies with limited budgets which cannot afford to purchase their own expensive hardware and software. This paper is an overview of the Cloud Computing, giving its types, principles, advantages, and disadvantages. In addition, the paper gives some example engineering applications of Cloud Computing and makes suggestions for possible future applications in the field of engineering.
Keywords: Cloud computing, cloud services, IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, IoT.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13922687 Core Competence Development while Carrying out Organizational Changes
Authors: Olga A. Shvetsova
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The paper contains the different issues of competence management in industrial companies. The theoretical bases of human resources management and practical issues of innovative enterprises’ competitiveness are considered. The research is focused on the modern industrial enterprise changes management problems; it focuses on the effective personnel management of industrial enterprises on the basis of competence approach. The influence of organizational changes on the competence development is discussed. The need for development of the new technologies is mentioned, proposal is based on competence-based approach in personnel management including in the conditions of carrying out organizational changes; methods of acquisition and development of missing key professional competences are discussed; importance of key competencies in forming competitive advantage of the organization is mentioned.Keywords: Competence model, development of industrial company, organizational changes, competitiveness, core competencies.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8862686 Using Reuse Water for Irrigation Green space of Naein City
Authors: Nasri M., Soleimani A.
Abstract:
Since water resources of desert Naein City are very limited, a approach which saves water resources and meanwhile meets the needs of the greenspace for water is to use city-s sewage wastewater. Proper treatment of Naein-s sewage up to the standards required for green space uses may solve some of the problems of green space development of the city. The present paper closely examines available statistics and information associated with city-s sewage system, and determines complementary stages of sewage treatment facilities of the city. In the present paper, population, per capita water use, and required discharge for various greenspace pieces including different plants are calculated. Moreover, in order to facilitate the application of water resources, a Crude water distribution network apart from drinking water distribution network is designed, and a plan for mixing municipal wells- water with sewage wastewater in proposed mixing tanks is suggested. Hence, following greenspace irrigation reform and complementary plan, per capita greenspace of the city will be increased from current amount of 13.2 square meters to 32 square meters.Keywords: Sewage Treatment Facility, Wastewater, Greenspace, Distribution Network, Naein City
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16462685 Human Action Recognition Using Variational Bayesian HMM with Dirichlet Process Mixture of Gaussian Wishart Emission Model
Authors: Wanhyun Cho, Soonja Kang, Sangkyoon Kim, Soonyoung Park
Abstract:
In this paper, we present the human action recognition method using the variational Bayesian HMM with the Dirichlet process mixture (DPM) of the Gaussian-Wishart emission model (GWEM). First, we define the Bayesian HMM based on the Dirichlet process, which allows an infinite number of Gaussian-Wishart components to support continuous emission observations. Second, we have considered an efficient variational Bayesian inference method that can be applied to drive the posterior distribution of hidden variables and model parameters for the proposed model based on training data. And then we have derived the predictive distribution that may be used to classify new action. Third, the paper proposes a process of extracting appropriate spatial-temporal feature vectors that can be used to recognize a wide range of human behaviors from input video image. Finally, we have conducted experiments that can evaluate the performance of the proposed method. The experimental results show that the method presented is more efficient with human action recognition than existing methods.
Keywords: Human action recognition, Bayesian HMM, Dirichlet process mixture model, Gaussian-Wishart emission model, Variational Bayesian inference, Prior distribution and approximate posterior distribution, KTH dataset.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1006