Search results for: Boundary work

Authors: Kwangjin Hong, Chulhan Lee, Keechul Jung, Kyoungsu Oh

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For the communication between human and computer in an interactive computing environment, the gesture recognition is studied vigorously. Therefore, a lot of studies have proposed efficient methods about the recognition algorithm using 2D camera captured images. However, there is a limitation to these methods, such as the extracted features cannot fully represent the object in real world. Although many studies used 3D features instead of 2D features for more accurate gesture recognition, the problem, such as the processing time to generate 3D objects, is still unsolved in related researches. Therefore we propose a method to extract the 3D features combined with the 3D object reconstruction. This method uses the modified GPU-based visual hull generation algorithm which disables unnecessary processes, such as the texture calculation to generate three kinds of 3D projection maps as the 3D feature: a nearest boundary, a farthest boundary, and a thickness of the object projected on the base-plane. In the section of experimental results, we present results of proposed method on eight human postures: T shape, both hands up, right hand up, left hand up, hands front, stand, sit and bend, and compare the computational time of the proposed method with that of the previous methods.

Keywords: Fast 3D Feature Extraction, Gesture Recognition, Computer Vision.

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Authors: Thomas Kalliath, Parveen Kalliath, Christopher C. A. Chan, Geetha Thachil

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Although considerable amount of research has attested to the link between work-to-family conflict (WFC) and family-to-work conflict (FWC) and psychological strain and wellbeing, there is a paucity of research investigating the phenomenon in the context of social workers. Moreover, very little is known about the impact of WFC and FWC in developing countries. The present study investigated the mediating effect of psychological strain on the relationship between WFC and FWC with wellbeing of social workers in India. Our findings show that WFC and FWC are influential antecedents of wellbeing; their influence is both direct on psychological strain, and indirect on wellbeing transmitted through psychological strain. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Keywords: Family-to-work conflict, psychological strain, wellbeing, work-to-family conflict.

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Authors: Alireza Keshmiri, Shahriar Bagheri, Nan Wu

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This research presents an analytical model for the development of an energy harvester with piezoelectric rings stacked at the boundary of the structure based on the Adomian decomposition method. The model is applied to geometrically non-uniform beams to derive the steady-state dynamic response of the structure subjected to base motion excitation and efficiently harvest the subsequent vibrational energy. The in-plane polarization of the piezoelectric rings is employed to enhance the electrical power output. A parametric study for the proposed energy harvester with various design parameters is done to prepare the dataset required for optimization. Finally, simulation-based optimization technique helps to find the optimum structural design with maximum efficiency. To solve the optimization problem, an artificial neural network is first trained to replace the simulation model, and then, a genetic algorithm is employed to find the optimized design variables. Higher geometrical non-uniformity and length of the beam lowers the structure natural frequency and generates a larger power output.

Keywords: Piezoelectricity, energy harvesting, simulation-based optimization, artificial neural network, genetic algorithm.

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Authors: Harshavardhan Reddy, Balaji Subramanian

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A systematic parametric study to find the optimum Bellmouth profile by relating geometric and performance parameters to satisfy a set of specifications is reported. A careful aerodynamic design of Bellmouth intake is critical to properly direct the flow with minimal losses and maximal flow uniformity into the honeycomb located inside the settling chamber of an indraft wind tunnel, thus improving the efficiency of the entire unit. Design charts for elliptically profiled Bellmouth's with two different contraction ratios (9 and 18) and three different test section speeds (25 m/s, 50 m/s, and 75 m/s) were presented. A significant performance improvement - especially in the coefficient of discharge and in the flow angularity and boundary layer thickness at the honeycomb inlet - was observed when an entry corner radius (r/D = 0.08) was added to the Bellmouth profile. The nonuniformity at the honeycomb inlet drops by about three times (~1% to 0.3%) when moving from square to regular octagonal cross-section. An octagonal cross-sectioned Bellmouth intake with L/d = 0.55, D/d = 1.625, and r/D = 0.08 met all the four target performance specifications and is proposed as the best choice for a low-speed wind tunnel.

Keywords: Bellmouth intake, low-speed wind tunnel, coefficient of discharge, nonuniformity, flow angularity, boundary layer thickness, CFD, aerodynamics.

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Authors: R. Doubrava, R. Růžek

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Nonstandard tests are necessary for analyses and verification of new developed structural and technological solutions with application of composite materials. One of the most critical primary structural parts of a typical aerospace structure is T-joint. This structural element is loaded mainly in shear, bending, peel and tension. The paper is focused on the shear loading simulations. The aim of the work is to obtain a representative uniform distribution of shear loads along T-joint during the mechanical testing. A new design of T-joint test procedure, numerical simulation and optimization of representative boundary conditions are presented. The different conditions and inaccuracies both in simulations and experiments are discussed. The influence of different parameters on stress and strain distributions is demonstrated on T-joint made of CFRP (carbon fibre reinforced plastic). A special test rig designed by VZLU (Aerospace Research and Test Establishment) for T-shear test procedure is presented.

Keywords: T-joint, shear, composite, mechanical testing, Finite Element analysis, methodology.

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Authors: M. H. Pol, A. Bidi, A.V. Hoseini, G.H. Liaghat

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In this note, a theoretical model for analyzing of normal penetration of the ogive – nose projectile into metallic targets is presented .The failure is assumed to be asymmetry petalling and the analysis is performed by using the energy balance and work done .The work done consist of the work required for plastic deformation Wp, the work for transferring the matter to new position Wd and the work for bending of the petals Wb. In several studies, it has been shown that we can neglect the loss of energy by temperature. In this present study, in first, by assuming the crater formation after perforation, the value of work done is calculated during the normal penetration of conical projectiles into thin metallic targets. Then the value of residual velocity and ballistic limit of the projectile is predicated by using the energy balance. In final, theoretical and experimental results is compared.

Keywords: Ogive Projectile, normal impact, penetration, thinmetallic target.

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Authors: Dalvir Singh, Somnath Chattopadhyaya

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During welding or flame cutting of metals, the prediction of heat affected zone (HAZ) is critical. There is need to develop a simple mathematical model to calculate the temperature variation in HAZ and derivative analysis can be used for this purpose. This study presents analytical solution for heat transfer through conduction in mild steel plate. The homogeneous and nonhomogeneous boundary conditions are single variables. The full field analytical solutions of temperature measurement, subjected to local heating source, are derived first by method of separation of variables followed with the experimental visualization using infrared imaging. Based on the present work, it is suggested that appropriate heat input characteristics controls the temperature distribution in and around HAZ.

Keywords: Conduction Heat Transfer, Heat Affected Zone (HAZ), Infra-Red Imaging, Numerical Method, Orthogonal Function, Plasma Arc Cutting, Separation of Variables, Temperature Measurement.

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Authors: Jing Wang, Yong Wang

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For organizational development, employee well-being is critical and has been influenced deeply by character strengths. Therefore, investigating the relationship between character strengths and employee well-being and its inner mechanism is crucial. In this study, we explored the features of Chinese employees' character strengths, studied the relationship between character strengths and employees' subjective well-being, work well-being and psychological well-being respectively, and examined the mediating effect of work-family relationship (both enrichment and conflict). An online survey was conducted. The results showed that: (1) The top five character strengths of Chinese employees were gratitude, citizenship, kindness, appreciation of beauty and excellence, justice, while the bottom five ones were creativity, authenticity, bravery, spirituality, open-mindedness. (2) Subjective well-being was significantly correlated to courage, humanity, transcendence and justice. Work well-being was significantly correlated to wisdom, courage, humanity, justice and transcendence. Psychological well-being was significantly correlated to all the above five character strengths and temperance. (3) Wisdom and humanity influenced Chinese employees’ subjective well-being through work-family enrichment. Justice enhanced psychological well-being via work-family enrichment; meanwhile, it also played a positive role in subjective well-being, work well-being, and psychological well-being by decreasing the family-work conflict. At the end of this paper, some theoretical and practical contributions to organizational management were further discussed.

Keywords: Character strengths, work-family conflict, work-family enrichment, employee well-being, work well-being.

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Authors: Unnop Panpuang

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The objectives of this project are to study on the work efficiency of the employees, sorted by their profiles, and to study on the relation between job attributes and work efficiency of employees of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. The samples used for this study are 292 employees. The statistics used in this study are frequencies, standard deviations, One-way ANOVA and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Majority of respondent were male with an undergraduate degree, married and lives together. The average age of respondents was between 31-41 years old, married and the educational background are higher than bachelor’s degree. The job attribute is correlated to the work efficiency with the statistical significance level of.o1. This concurs with the predetermined hypothesis. The correlation between the two main factors is in the moderate level. All the categories of job attributes such as the variety of skills, job clarity, job importance, freedom to do work are considered separately.

Keywords: Employees, Job Attributes, Work Efficiency.

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Authors: I. Bolis, S. N. Morioka, L. I. Sznelwar

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The growing importance of sustainability in corporate policies represents a great opportunity for workers to gain more consideration, with great benefits to their well being. Sustainable work is believed to be one which improves the organization-s performance and fosters professional development as well as workers- health. In a multiple case study based on document research, information was sought about work activities and their sustainability or corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies, as disseminated by corporations. All the companies devoted attention to work activities and delivered a good amount of information about them. Nevertheless, the information presented was generic; all the actions developed were top-down and there was no information about the impact of changes aimed at sustainability on the workers- activities. It was found that the companies seemed to be at an early stage. In the future, they need to show more commitment through concrete goals: they must be aware that workers contribute directly to the corporations- sustainability. This would allow room for Ergonomics and Work Psychodynamics to be incorporated and to be useful for both companies and society, so as to promote and ensure work sustainability.

Keywords: Sustainability, ergonomics, work psychodynamics, multinational companies.

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Authors: V. G. Rifert, V. V. Gorin, V. V. Sereda, V. V. Treputnev

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The analysis of heat transfer design methods in condensing inside plain tubes under existing influence of shear stress is presented in this paper. The existing discrepancy in more than 30-50% between rating heat transfer coefficients and experimental data has been noted. The analysis of existing theoretical and semi-empirical methods of heat transfer prediction is given. The influence of a precise definition concerning boundaries of phase flow (it is especially important in condensing inside horizontal tubes), shear stress (friction coefficient) and heat flux on design of heat transfer is shown. The substantiation of boundary conditions of the values of parameters, influencing accuracy of rated relationships, is given. More correct relationships for heat transfer prediction, which showed good convergence with experiments made by different authors, are substantiated in this work.

Keywords: Film condensation, heat transfer, plain tube, shear stress.

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Authors: F. A. Hamad, S. He

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In this paper, the average heat transfer characteristics for a cross flow cylinder of 16 mm diameter in a vertical pipe has been studied for single-phase flow (water/oil) and multicomponent (non-boiling) flow (water-air, water-oil, oil-air and water-oil-air). The cylinder is uniformly heated by electrical heater placed at the centre of the element. The results show that the values of average heat transfer coefficients for water are around four times the values for oil flow. Introducing air as a second phase with water has very little effect on heat transfer rate, while the heat transfer increased by 70% in case of oil. For water–oil flow, the heat transfer coefficient values are reflecting the percentage of water up to 50%, but increasing the water more than 50% leads to a sharp increase in the heat transfer coefficients to become close to the values of pure water. The enhancement of heat transfer by mixing two phases may be attributed to the changes in flow structure near to cylinder surface which lead to thinner boundary layer and higher turbulence. For three-phase flow, the heat transfer coefficients for all cases fall within the limit of single-phase flow of water and oil and are very close to pure water values. The net effect of the turbulence augmentation due to the introduction of air and the attenuation due to the introduction of oil leads to a thinner boundary layer of oil over the cylinder surface covered by a mixture of water and air bubbles.

Keywords: Circular cylinder, cross-flow, heat transfer, multicomponent multiphase flow.

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Authors: S. F. Wong, S. S. Dol

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Automotive designers have been trying to use dimples to reduce drag in vehicles. In this work, a car model has been applied with dimple surface with a parameter called dimple ratio DR, the ratio between the depths of the half dimple over the print diameter of the dimple, has been introduced and numerically simulated via k-ε turbulence model to study the aerodynamics performance with the increasing depth of the dimples The Ahmed body car model with 25 degree slant angle is simulated with the DR of 0.05, 0.2, 0.3 0.4 and 0.5 at Reynolds number of 176387 based on the frontal area of the car model. The geometry of dimple changes the kinematics and dynamics of flow. Complex interaction between the turbulent fluctuating flow and the mean flow escalates the turbulence quantities. The maximum level of turbulent kinetic energy occurs at DR = 0.4. It can be concluded that the dimples have generated extra turbulence energy at the surface and as a result, the application of dimples manages to reduce the drag coefficient of the car model compared to the model with smooth surface.

Keywords: Aerodynamics, Boundary Layer, Dimple, Drag, Kinetic Energy, Turbulence.

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Authors: Valarie A. Williams

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This paper is a nonempirical analysis of existing literature on virtual leadership, transformational leadership, and remote work cultures. This paper will provide insight into how virtual workplaces can utilize transformational leadership styles to overcome challenges that have become a reality due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Many organizations were forced into remote work to remain viable. It investigates the obstacles of working from home and the challenges leaders face in coaching and development. Employees lack face-to-face interactions and begin to feel isolated. Leaders cannot have in-person meetings and conversations and struggle to engage and encourage employees. In acknowledging the different dynamics of virtual work environments, organizations can make the necessary adjustments to best support employees. This paper reviews prior research studies and applies what is known to assist with current obstacles. This paper addresses how transformational leadership will assist in overcoming challenges within virtual work environments.

Keywords: Challenges in remote work, transformational leadership, virtual leadership, virtual work environments.

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Authors: N. Mantalay, N. Chakpitak, W. Janchai, P. Sureepong

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Work stress causes the organizational work-life imbalance of employees. Because of this imbalance, workers perform with lower effort to finish assignments and thus an organization will experience reduced productivity. In order to investigate the problem of an organizational work-life imbalance, this qualitative case study focuses on an organizational work-life imbalance among Thai software developers in a German-owned company in Chiang Mai, Thailand. In terms of knowledge management, fishbone diagram is useful analysis tool to investigate the root causes of an organizational work-life imbalance systematically in focus-group discussions. Furthermore, fishbone diagram shows the relationship between causes and effects clearly. It was found that an organizational worklife imbalance among Thai software developers is influenced by management team, work environment, and information tools used in the company over time.

Keywords: knowledge management, knowledge worker, worklife imbalance, fishbone diagram

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Authors: Tung-Liang Chen, Ming - Yi Huang, Tchiu-Hui Su

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This study investigates the relationships between Work Motivation, Work Stress, and Job Satisfaction toward cross-strait employees. The target subjects are three manufacturing firms in Mainland China and Taiwan. Out of 450 distributed surveys, 352 valid surveys were obtained with the response rate of 78.22%.The findings have addressed three main pull factors toward cross-strait employees in choosing jobs, which are (1) high level of firm stability, (2) good firm image, and (3) good employee benefits. In addition, various employee attributes exert different impacts on Work Motivation, Work Stress, and Job Satisfaction. The comparison between expected and actual perceived Job Satisfaction toward cross-strait employees shows that “salary" ranks highest regarding expected Job Satisfaction whereas “co-worker relationship" ranks highest regarding actual perceived Job Satisfaction, which implies actual perceived Job Satisfaction do not match employee expectations. Therefore, this research further concludes that there exists differences between employees- expected and actual perceived Job Satisfaction.

Keywords: Cross-strait, job satisfaction, work motivation, work stress

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Authors: I. Algul, G. Akgun, H. Kurtaran

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Dynamic analysis of composite doubly curved panels with variable thickness subjected to different pulse types using Generalized Differential Quadrature method (GDQ) is presented in this study. Panels with variable thickness are used in the construction of aerospace and marine industry. Giving variable thickness to panels can allow the designer to get optimum structural efficiency. For this reason, estimating the response of variable thickness panels is very important to design more reliable structures under dynamic loads. Dynamic equations for composite panels with variable thickness are obtained using virtual work principle. Partial derivatives in the equation of motion are expressed with GDQ and Newmark average acceleration scheme is used for temporal discretization. Several examples are used to highlight the effectiveness of the proposed method. Results are compared with finite element method. Effects of taper ratios, boundary conditions and loading type on the response of composite panel are investigated.

Keywords: Generalized differential quadrature method, doubly curved panels, laminated composite materials, small displacement.

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Authors: Kornchanok Chidchaisuwan

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This project is a study of learning activities of creating experience from actual work performance to enhance career skills and technological usage abilities for uses in advertising career work performance for undergraduate students who enroll in the Creative Strategies for Advertising Course. The instructional model consisted of two learning approaches: (1) simulation-based learning, which is the learning with the use of simulations of working in various sections of creative advertisement work with their own work process and steps as well as the virtual technology learning in advertising companies; and (2) project-based learning, which is the learning that the learners engage in actual work performance based on the process of creating and producing creative advertisement works to be present on new media channels. The results of learning management showed that the effects on the students in various aspects were as follows: (1) the students had experience in the advertising process at the higher level; and (2) the students had work performance skills from the actual work performance that enabled them to possess the abilities to create and present their own work; also, they had created more efficient work outcomes and disseminated them on new media channels at a better level.

Keywords: Technical literacy, career skill, experience, simulation-based learning.

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Authors: Rana Bazaid, Debajyoti Pati

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Purpose: The aim of this research is to explore and discuss innovation-workspaces, and how the design of the workspace has the potential to boost the work process and encourage employees’ satisfaction, leading to inventive and creative results. Background: The relationship between the workers and the work environment has a strong potential to enhance work outcomes when optimized for work goals. Innovation-work environment can benefit employees’ satisfaction, health, and performance. To understand this complex relationship, this research explores innovation-work environments. Methods: A review of 26 peer-reviewed articles, seven books, and 23 companies’ websites was conducted; in addition, five case studies were analyzed to deduce appropriate examples for the study. Results: The research found all successful five innovation environments focused on two aspects: first, workers’ satisfaction and comfort, which includes a focus on physical, functional, and psychological comfort; second aspect, all five centers were diverse work environments that addressed workers’ needs, design for individuals and teamwork, design for workers’ freedom, and design for increasing interaction. Conclusion: understanding individuals' needs and creating work environments that enhance interaction between workers and with the space are key aspects of successful innovation-work environments.

Keywords: Innovation-workspace, productivity, work environment, workers’ satisfaction.

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Authors: Mohammed-Aminu Sanda, Emmanuel K. Mawuena

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Frontline workers performing client service duties in finance-oriented firms in most sub-Saharan African countries, such as Ghana, are known to be challenged in the conduct of their activities. The challenge is attributed to clients’ continued demand for real-time services from such workers, despite the introduction of technological interventions to offset the situation. This has caused such frontline workers to experience increases in their work-induced emotions with consequential effects on their work-induced happiness. This study, therefore, explored the effect of frontline workers’ work-induced emotions on their worked-induced happiness when providing tellering services to clients. A cross-sectional design and quantitative technique were used. Data were collected from a sample of 280 frontline workers using questionnaire. Based on the analysis, it was found that an increase in the frontline workers’ work-induced emotions, caused by their feelings of strain, burnout, frustration, and hard work, had consequential effect on their work-induced happiness. This consequential effect was also found to be aggravated by the workers’ senses of being stretched beyond limit, being emotionally drained, and being used up by their work activities. It is concluded that frontline workers in finance-oriented firms can provide quality real-time services to clients without increases in their work-induced emotions, but with enhanced work-induced happiness, when the psychological and physiological emotional factors associated with the challenged work activities are understood and remedied. Management of the firms can use such understanding to redesign the activities of their frontline workers and improve the quality of their service delivery interactivity with clients.

Keywords: Client-service activity, finance industrial sector, frontline workers, work-induced emotion, work-induced happiness.

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Authors: Z. Y. Jiang, H. B. Tibar, A. Aljabri

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Optimisation of the physical and mechanical properties of cold rolled thin strips is achieved by controlling the rolling parameters. In this paper, the factors affecting the asymmetrical cold rolling of thin low carbon steel strip have been studied at a speed ratio of 1.1 without lubricant applied. The effect of rolling parameters on the resulting microstructure was also investigated. It was found that under dry condition, work roll shifting and work roll cross angle can improve the strip profile, and the result is more significant with an increase of work roll cross angle rather than that of work roll shifting. However, there was no obvious change in microstructure. In addition, effects of rolling parameters on strip profile and microstructure have also been discussed.

Keywords: Reduction ratio, rolling speed ratio, strip shape, work rolls cross angle, work roll shifting.

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Authors: Naeem Ahmed

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Social work is a professional activity based on the approach of “helping people to help themselves” (Stroup). Social work education and practice both are based on humanitarian philosophy in which social workers try to increase the happiness of the society and to reduce the problems of society. Labour welfare is a specialised field of social work which especially focuses on welfare of organised and unorganised labour. In India labour is facing numerous problems in both organised and unorganised sectors because of ignorance, illiteracy, high rate of unemployment etc. In most of the Indian social work institutions we have this specialization with different names like Human Resource Management or Industrial Relation and Personnel Management or Industrial Relations and Labour Welfare or Industrial Social Work etc. Field work practice is integrated part of social work education curriculum in all specialised field. In India we have different field work practice models being followed in different institutions. The main objective of this paper is to prepare a universal field work practicum model in the field of labour welfare. This paper is exploratory in nature, researcher used personal experience and secondary data (model of field work practice in different institutions like Aligarh Muslim University, Pondicherry University, Central University of Karnataka, University of Lucknow, MJP Rohilkhand University Bareilly etc.) Researcher found that there is an immediate need to upgrade the curriculum or field work practice in this particular field, as more than 40 percent of total population engaged in either unorganised or organised sector (NSSO 2011-12) and they are not aware about their rights. In this way a social worker can play an important role in existing labour welfare facilities by making them aware.

Keywords: Fieldwork, labour welfare, organised labour, social work practice, unorganised labour.

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Authors: N. Mantalay, N. Chakpitak, W. Janchai, P. Sureepong

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Work-life balance has been acknowledged and promoted for the sake of employee retention. It is essential for a manager to realize the human resources situation within a company to help employees work happily and perform at their best. This paper suggests knowledge management and critical thinking are useful to motivate employees to think about their work-life balance. A qualitative case study is presented, which aimed to discover the meaning of work-life balance-s meaning from the perspective of Thai knowledge workers and how it affects their decision-making towards work resignation. Results found three types of work-life balance dimensions; a work- life balance including a workplace and a private life setting, an organizational working life balance only, and a worklife balance only in a private life setting. These aspects all influenced the decision-making of the employees. Factors within a theme of an organizational work-life balance were involved with systematic administration, fair treatment, employee recognition, challenging assignments to gain working experience, assignment engagement, teamwork, relationship with superiors, and working environment, while factors concerning private life settings were about personal demands such as an increasing their salary or starting their own business.

Keywords: knowledge management, work-life balance, knowledge workers, decision-making, critical thinking, diverse workforce

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Authors: Milorad Pavlovic, Anna Manzato, Antonella Cecchi

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Cultural heritage conservation is a challenge for contemporary society. In recent decades, significant resources have been allocated for the conservation and restoration of architectural heritage. Historical buildings were restored, protected and reinforced with the intent to limit the risks of degradation or loss, due to phenomena of structural damage and to external factors such as differential settlements, earthquake effects, etc. The wide diffusion of historic masonry constructions in Italy, Europe and the Mediterranean area requires reliable tools for the evaluation of their structural safety. In this paper is presented a free modal analysis performed on a minor historical architecture located in the village of Bagno Grande, near the city of L’Aquila in Italy. The location is characterized by a complex urban context, seriously damaged by the earthquake of 2009. The aim of this work is to check the structural behavior of a masonry building characterized by several boundary conditions imposed by adjacent buildings and infrastructural facilities.

Keywords: FEM, masonry, minor historical architecture, modal analysis.

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Authors: Christine K. Fulmer

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Social work education is competency based in nature. There is an expectation that graduates of social work programs throughout the world are to be prepared to practice at a level of competence, which is beneficial to both the well-being of individuals and community. Experiential learning is one way to prepare students for competent practice. The use of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a form experiential education that has been successful in a number of disciplines to bridge the gap between the theoretical concepts in the classroom to the real world. PBL aligns with the constructivist theoretical approach to learning, which emphasizes the integration of new knowledge with the beliefs students already hold. In addition, the basic tenants of PBL correspond well with the practice behaviors associated with social work practice including multi-disciplinary collaboration and critical thinking. This paper makes an argument for utilizing PBL in social work education.

Keywords: Constructivist theoretical approach, experiential learning, pedagogy, problem-based learning, social work education.

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Authors: J. Uka, B. McKay, T. Minton, O. Adole, R. Lewis, S. J. Glanvill, L. Anguilano

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Effective heat treatment conditions to obtain maximum aluminium swarf recycling are investigated in this work. Aluminium swarf briquettes underwent treatments at different temperatures and cooling times to investigate the improvements obtained in the recovery of aluminium metal. The main issue for the recovery of the metal from swarfs is to overcome the constraints due to the oxide layers present in high concentration in the swarfs since they have a high surface area. Briquettes supplied by Renishaw were heat treated at 650, 700, 750, 800 and 850 ℃ for 1-hour and then cooled at 2.3, 3.5 and 5 ℃/min. The resulting material was analysed using SEM EDX to observe the oxygen diffusion and aluminium coalescence at the boundary between adjacent swarfs. Preliminary results show that, swarf needs to be heat treated at a temperature of 850 ℃ and cooled down slowly at 2.3 ℃/min to have thin and discontinuous alumina layers between the adjacent swarf and consequently allowing aluminium coalescence. This has the potential to save energy and provide maximum financial profit in preparation of swarf briquettes for recycling.

Keywords: Aluminium, swarf, oxide layers, recycle, reuse.

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Authors: Brajesh Kumar Jha, Neeru Adlakha, M. N. Mehta

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Mathematical and computational modeling of calcium signalling in nerve cells has produced considerable insights into how the cells contracts with other cells under the variation of biophysical and physiological parameters. The modeling of calcium signaling in astrocytes has become more sophisticated. The modeling effort has provided insight to understand the cell contraction. Main objective of this work is to study the effect of voltage gated (Operated) calcium channel (VOC) on calcium profile in the form of advection diffusion equation. A mathematical model is developed in the form of advection diffusion equation for the calcium profile. The model incorporates the important physiological parameter like diffusion coefficient etc. Appropriate boundary conditions have been framed. Finite volume method is employed to solve the problem. A program has been developed using in MATLAB 7.5 for the entire problem and simulated on an AMD-Turion 32-bite machine to compute the numerical results.

Keywords: Ca2+ Profile, Advection Diffusion, VOC, FVM.

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Authors: M. Ghanbari, S. Hossainpour, G. Rezazadeh

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In this paper, longitudinal vibration of a micro-beam in micro-scale fluid media has been investigated. The proposed mathematical model for this study is made up of a micro-beam and a micro-plate at its free end. An AC voltage is applied to the pair of piezoelectric layers on the upper and lower surfaces of the micro-beam in order to actuate it longitudinally. The whole structure is bounded between two fixed plates on its upper and lower surfaces. The micro-gap between the structure and the fixed plates is filled with fluid. Fluids behave differently in micro-scale than macro, so the fluid field in the gap has been modeled based on micro-polar theory. The coupled governing equations of motion of the micro-beam and the micro-scale fluid field have been derived. Due to having non-homogenous boundary conditions, derived equations have been transformed to an enhanced form with homogenous boundary conditions. Using Galerkin-based reduced order model, the enhanced equations have been discretized over the beam and fluid domains and solve simultaneously in order to obtain force response of the micro-beam. Effects of micro-polar parameters of the fluid as characteristic length scale, coupling parameter and surface parameter on the response of the micro-beam have been studied.

Keywords: Micro-polar theory, Galerkin method, MEMS, micro-fluid.

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Authors: M. A. Sanda, B. Johansson, J. Johansson

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize a futureoriented human work environment and organizational activity in deep mines that entails a vision of good and safe workplace. Futureoriented technological challenges and mental images required for modern work organization design were appraised. It is argued that an intelligent-deep-mine covering the entire value chain, including environmental issues and with work organization that supports good working and social conditions towards increased human productivity could be designed. With such intelligent system and work organization in place, the mining industry could be seen as a place where cooperation, skills development and gender equality are key components. By this perspective, both the youth and women might view mining activity as an attractive job and the work environment as a safe, and this could go a long way in breaking the unequal gender balance that exists in most mines today.

Keywords: Mining activity; deep mining; human operators; intelligent deep mine; work environment; organizational activity.

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Authors: Abed Ahmed, Mehrdad Asadi, Jennifer Martay

Abstract:

Stainless steel pipelines are crucial components to transportation and storage in the oil and gas industry. However, the rise of random attacks and vandalism on these pipes for their valuable transport has led to more security and protection for incoming surface impacts. These surface impacts can lead to large global deformations of the pipe and place the pipe under strain, causing the eventual failure of the pipeline. Therefore, understanding how these surface impact loads affect the pipes is vital to improving the pipes’ security and protection. In this study, experimental test and finite element analysis (FEA) have been carried out on EN3B stainless steel specimens to study the impact behaviour. Low velocity impact tests at 9 m/s with 16 kg dome impactor was used to simulate for high momentum impact for localised failure. FEA models of clamped and deformable boundaries were modelled to study the effect of the boundaries on the pipes impact behaviour on its impact resistance, using experimental and FEA approach. Comparison of experimental and FE simulation shows good correlation to the deformable boundaries in order to validate the robustness of the FE model to be implemented in pipe models with complex anisotropic structure.

Keywords: Dynamic impact, deformable boundary conditions, finite element modeling, FEM, finite element, FE, LS-DYNA, Stainless steel pipe.

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