Search results for: quality culture

Authors: L. Cazacova, A. Erdelhun, A.M. Saymanlier, N. Cazacova, U. Ulbar

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Today due to rising levels of housing- necessities, several problems have been raised regarding to urban quality of life. The aim of the research is to study social and spatial aspects of housing environment and to find out their interaction with the urban quality of life. As a case of study two pilot areas of Famagusta city in North Cyprus, were selected: Baykal, considered as an established urban district and Tuzla, a newly developed peri-urban district. In order to determine urban quality of life in planning and developing of housing areas, social and spatial aspects of selected areas have been examined, differences between them according to the planning policy have been pointed out, advantages and disadvantages of housing planning have been found. As a practical implementation of the research a number of households in each selected area have been interviewed in order to draw a conclusion.

Keywords: housing development, Famagusta, quality of life, social and spatial aspects.

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Authors: Yao Wu

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In the context of financial globalization, China has put forward the policy goal of high-quality development, and the digital economy, with its advantage of information resources, is driving China's export trade to achieve high-quality development. Due to the long-standing financing constraints of small and medium-sized export enterprises, how to expand the export scale of small and medium-sized enterprises has become a major threshold for the development of China's export trade. This paper firstly adopts the hierarchical analysis method to establish the evaluation system of high-quality development of China's export trade; secondly, the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2018 are selected for empirical analysis to establish the impact model of digital inclusive finance on the high-quality development of China's export trade; based on the analysis of the heterogeneous enterprise trade model, a mediating effect model is established to verify the mediating role of credit constraint in the development of high-quality export trade in China. Based on the above analysis, this paper concludes that inclusive digital finance, with its unique digital and inclusive nature, alleviates the credit constraint problem among SMEs, enhances the binary marginal effect of SMEs' exports, optimizes their export scale and structure, and promotes the high-quality development of regional and even national export trade. Finally, based on the findings of this paper, we propose insights and suggestions for inclusive digital finance to promote the high-quality development of export trade.

Keywords: Digital inclusive finance, high-quality development of export trade, fixed effects, binary marginal effects.

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Authors: M.A. Lazim, M. Suriani

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Knowing consumers' preferences and perceptions of the sensory evaluation of drink products are very significant to manufacturers and retailers alike. With no appropriate sensory analysis, there is a high risk of market disappointment. This paper aims to rank the selected coffee products and also to determine the best of quality attribute through sensory evaluation using fuzzy decision making model. Three products of coffee drinks were used for sensory evaluation. Data were collected from thirty judges at a hypermarket in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. The judges were asked to specify their sensory evaluation in linguistic terms of the quality attributes of colour, smell, taste and mouth feel for each product and also the weight of each quality attribute. Five fuzzy linguistic terms represent the quality attributes were introduced prior analysing. The judgment membership function and the weights were compared to rank the products and also to determine the best quality attribute. The product of Indoc was judged as the first in ranking and 'taste' as the best quality attribute. These implicate the importance of sensory evaluation in identifying consumers- preferences and also the competency of fuzzy approach in decision making.

Keywords: fuzzy decision making, fuzzy linguistic, membership function, sensory evaluation,

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Authors: Panpan Xu, Qiying Zhang, Hui Qian

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Groundwater is main source of water supply in the Guanzhong Basin, China. To investigate the quality of groundwater for agricultural purposes in Jiaokou Irrigation District located in the east of the Guanzhong Basin, 141 groundwater samples were collected for analysis of major ions (K⁺, Na⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, SO₄^2-, Cl^-, HCO₃^-, and CO₃^2-), pH, and total dissolved solids (TDS). Sodium percentage (Na%), residual sodium carbonate (RSC), magnesium hazard (MH), and potential salinity (PS) were applied for irrigation water quality assessment. In addition, multivariate statistical techniques were used to identify the underlying hydrogeochemical processes. Results show that the content of TDS mainly depends on Cl^-, Na⁺, Mg²⁺, and SO₄^2-, and the HCO₃^- content is generally high except for the eastern sand area. These are responsible for complex hydrogeochemical processes, such as dissolution of carbonate minerals (dolomite and calcite), gypsum, halite, and silicate minerals, the cation exchange, as well as evaporation and concentration. The average evaluation levels of Na%, RSC, MH, and PS for irrigation water quality are doubtful, good, unsuitable, and injurious to unsatisfactory, respectively. Therefore, it is necessary for decision makers to comprehensively consider the indicators and thus reasonably evaluate the irrigation water quality.

Keywords: Irrigation water quality, multivariate statistical analysis, groundwater, hydrogeochemical process.

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Authors: C. Leiber

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International human rights treaties ensure basic rights to all people, regardless of nationality. These treaties have developed in a predominantly Western environment, and their implementation into non-western contexts often raises questions of the transfer-ability of value systems and governance structures. International human rights treaties also postulate the right to the full enjoyment and expression of one’s own culture, known as cultural rights. Many cultural practices and traditions in South Sudan serve as an obstacle to the adaptation of human rights and internationally agreed-upon standards, specifically those pertaining to women’s rights and gender equality. This paper analyzes the specific social, political, and economic conflicts between women’s rights and cultural rights within the context of South Sudan’s evolution into a sovereign nation. It comprehensively evaluates the legal status of South Sudanese women and –based on the empirical evidence- assesses gender equality in four key areas: Marriage, Education, Violence against Women, and Inheritance. This work includes an exploration into how South Sudanese culture influences, and indeed is intertwined with, social, political, and economic spheres, and how it limits gender equality and impedes the full implementation of international human rights treaties. Furthermore, any negative effects which systemic gender inequality and cultural practices that are oppressive to women have on South Sudan as a developing nation are explored. Finally, those areas of conflict between South Sudanese cultural rights and international women’s rights are outlined which can be mitigated or resolved in favor of elevating gender equality without imperializing or destroying South Sudanese culture.

Keywords: Cultural rights, gender equality, international human rights, South Sudan.

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Authors: F. Kalantari, M. Barzegar, Z. Hamidi-Esfahani

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This study was conducted to evaluate the antifungal activities of Cinnamomum zeylanicum and Origanum vulgare L. essential oil against Aspergillus flavus in culture media and tomato paste. 200 ppm of cinnamon and 500 ppm of oregano completely inhibited A. flavus growth in culture media, while in tomato paste 300 ppm of cinnamon and 200 ppm of oregano had the same effect. Test panel evaluations revealed that samples with 100 and 200 ppm cinnamon were acceptable. The results may suggest the potential use of Cinnamomum zeylanicum essential oil as natural preservative in tomato paste.

Keywords: Antimicrobial, Food safety, GC/MS, Natural preservative

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Authors: Tanzeel bin Abdul Rauf Patker, Saba Mateen

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This research investigates the impact of Brand Loyalty on the product performance and the factors those are considered more important in brand reputation. Variables selected for this research are Brand quality, Brand Equity, Brand Reputation to explore the impact of these variables on Product performance. For this purpose, primary research has been conducted. The questionnaire survey for this research study was administered among the population mainly at the shopping malls. For this research study, a sample size of 250 respondents has been taken into consideration. Customers from the shopping malls and university students constitute the sample for this research study using random sampling (non-probabilistic) used as a sampling technique for conducting the research survey. According to the results obtained from the collected data, it is interpreted that product performance shares a direct relationship with brand quality, brand quality, and brand reputation. Result also showed that brand quality and brand equity has a significant effect on product performance, whereas brand reputation has an insignificant effect on product performance.

Keywords: Product performance, brand quality, brand equity and brand reputation.

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Authors: É. Kónya, E. Szabó, I. Bata-Vidács, T. Deák, M. Ottucsák, N. Adányi, A. Székács

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Spice paprika is a major spice commodity in the European Union (EU), produced locally and imported from non-EU countries, reported not only for chemical and microbiological contamination, but also for fraud. The effective interaction between producers’ quality management practices and government and EU activities is described on the example of spice paprika production and control in Hungary, a country of leading spice paprika producer and per capita consumer in Europe. To demonstrate the importance of various contamination factors in the Hungarian production and EU trade of spice paprika, several aspects concerning food safety of this commodity are presented. Alerts in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) of the EU between 2005 and 2013, as well as Hungarian state inspection results on spice paprika in 2004 are discussed, and quality non-compliance claims regarding spice paprika among EU member states are summarized in by means of network analysis. Quality assurance measures established along the spice paprika production technology chain at the leading Hungarian spice paprika manufacturer, Kalocsai Fűszerpaprika Zrt. are surveyed with main critical control points identified. The structure and operation of the Hungarian state food safety inspection system is described. Concerted performance of the latter two quality management systems illustrates the effective interaction between internal (manufacturer) and external (state) quality control measures.

Keywords: Spice paprika, quality control, reporting mechanisms, RASFF, vulnerable points, HACCP, BRC Global Standard.

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Authors: Armando Cartenì, Ilaria Henke

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The perceived public transport quality is an important driver that influences both customer satisfaction and mobility choices. The competition among transport operators needs to improve the quality of the services and identify which attributes are perceived as relevant by passengers. Among the “traditional” public transport quality attributes there are, for example: travel and waiting time, regularity of the services, and ticket price. By contrast, there are some “non-conventional” attributes that could significantly influence customer satisfaction jointly with the “traditional” ones. Among these, the beauty/aesthetics of the transport terminals (e.g. rail station and bus terminal) is probably one of the most impacting on user perception. Starting from these considerations, the point stressed in this paper was if (and how munch) the travel experience of the overall travel (e.g. how long is the travel, how many transport modes must be used) influences the perception of the public transport quality. The aim of this paper was to investigate the weight of the terminal quality (e.g. aesthetic, comfort and service offered) within the overall travel experience. The case study was the extra-urban Italian bus network. The passengers of the major Italian terminal bus were interviewed and the analysis of the results shows that about the 75% of the travelers, are available to pay up to 30% more for the ticket price for having a high quality terminal. A travel experience effect was observed: the average perceived transport quality varies with the characteristic of the overall trip. The passengers that have a “long trip” (travel time greater than 2 hours) perceived as “low” the overall quality of the trip even if they pass through a high quality terminal. The opposite occurs for the “short trip” passengers. This means that if a traveler passes through a high quality station, the overall perception of that terminal could be significantly reduced if he is tired from a long trip. This result is important and if confirmed through other case studies, will allow to conclude that the “travel experience impact" must be considered as an explicit design variable for public transport services and planning.

Keywords: Transportation planning, sustainable mobility, decision support system, discrete choice model, design problem.

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Authors: Bertha Sânduleasa, Aniela Matei, Mihaela Ghenţa, Nicolina Racoceanu

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The increasing divorce and fertility rates outside of marriage, the changing values in the last decades have led to a high prevalence of single parent families. Currently, worldwide, singleparent families represent about a quarter of all families. Recent changes occurring in the structure of single-parent families and also the multitude of factors that influence the quality of life of these families require the development of new research tools in order to provide foundations for social policies addressed to this type of family. The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis concerning the quality of life for single parent families in Romania, based on data collected through a research methodology developed by the authors within a scientific research project funded by a national grant called Partnerships in priority areas.

Keywords: Family policies, quality of life, single-parent families, work-life balance.

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Authors: Maassoumeh Javadi Baygi, Abdul Rahman B Ramli, Borhanuddin Mohd Ali, Syamsiah Mashohor

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The expectation of network performance from the early days of ARPANET until now has been changed significantly. Every day, new advancement in technological infrastructure opens the doors for better quality of service and accordingly level of perceived quality of network services have been increased over the time. Nowadays for many applications, late information has no value or even may result in financial or catastrophic loss, on the other hand, demands for some level of guarantee in providing and maintaining quality of service are ever increasing. Based on this history, having a QoS aware routing system which is able to provide today's required level of quality of service in the networks and effectively adapt to the future needs, seems as a key requirement for future Internet. In this work we have extended the traditional AntNet routing system to support QoS with multiple metrics such as bandwidth and delay which is named Q-Net. This novel scalable QoS routing system aims to provide different types of services in the network simultaneously. Each type of service can be provided for a period of time in the network and network nodes do not need to have any previous knowledge about it. When a type of quality of service is requested, Q-Net will allocate required resources for the service and will guarantee QoS requirement of the service, based on target objectives.

Keywords: Quality of Service, Routing, Ant Colony Optimization, Ant-based algorithms.

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Authors: O. Ikpotokin

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In any production process, every product is aimed to attain a certain standard, but the presence of assignable cause of variability affects our process, thereby leading to low quality of product. The ability to identify and remove this type of variability reduces its overall effect, thereby improving the quality of the product. In case of a univariate control chart signal, it is easy to detect the problem and give a solution since it is related to a single quality characteristic. However, the problems involved in the use of multivariate control chart are the violation of multivariate normal assumption and the difficulty in identifying the quality characteristic(s) that resulted in the out of control signals. The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of non-parametric control chart (the bootstrap approach) for obtaining control limit to overcome the problem of multivariate distributional assumption and the p-value method for detecting out of control signals. Results from a performance study show that the proposed bootstrap method enables the setting of control limit that can enhance the detection of out of control signals when compared, while the p-value method also enhanced in identifying out of control variables.

Keywords: Bootstrap control limit, p-value method, out-of-control signals, p-value, quality characteristics.

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Authors: Juha Kettunen

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The study analyzes the quality and the size of the strategic network of higher education institutions and the concept of fitness for purpose in quality assurance. It also analyses the transaction costs of networking that have consequences on the number of members in the network. Empirical evidence is presented from the Consortium on Applied Research and Professional Education, which is a European strategic network of six higher education institutions. The results of the study support the argument that the number of members in the strategic network should be relatively small to provide high-quality results. The practical importance is that networking has been able to promote international research and development projects. The results of this study are important for those who want to design and improve international networks in higher education.

Keywords: Higher education, network, research and development, strategic management.

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Authors: Minh Tuan, Nguyen, Chung –Ruey, Yen

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The study was performed to evaluate the effect of Sgirdling, fruit thinning plus bagging with 2,4-D application, fruit thinning plus bagging on growth and quality of wax apple fruit. Girdling was applied three week before flowering. The 2,4-D was sprayed at the small bud and petal fall stage. The effect of all treatments on fruit growth was measured weekly. The physical and biochemical quality characteristics of the fruits were recorded. The results showed that no significant effect on number of bud among treatments. S-girdling, 2,4-D application produced the lowest bud drop, fruit drop compared to untreated control. Moreover, S-girdling enhanced faster fruit growth producing the best final fruit length and diameter than the control treatment. It was also observed that Sgirdling greatly increased fruit set, fruit weight as well as total soluble solid, reduced fruit crack, and titratable acidity. In conclusion, S-girdling had a distinctive and significant effect on most of the fruit quality characteristics assessed. Application 2,4-D was also recommended as the industry norm to increase fruit set, and fruit quality in wax apple.

Keywords: Wax apple, S-girdling, 2, 4-D, fruit bagging, fruit thinning.

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Authors: B. Ratchaneepun, N.S. Bardell

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It is recognized that people are the main drivers in almost all the processes that affect airworthiness assurance. This is especially true in the area of aircraft maintenance, which is an essential part of continuing airworthiness. This work investigates what impact English language proficiency, the intersection of the military and Thai cultures, and the lack of initial and continuing human factors training have on the work performance of maintenance personnel in the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF). A quantitative research method based on a cross-sectional survey was used to gather data about these three key aspects of “people” in a military airworthiness environment. 30 questions were developed addressing the crucial topics of English language proficiency, impact of culture, and human factors training. The officers and the non-commissioned officers (NCOs) who work for the Aeronautical Engineering Divisions in the RTAF comprised the survey participants. The survey data were analysed to support various hypotheses by using a t-test method. English competency in the RTAF is very important since all of the service manuals for Thai military aircraft are written in English. Without such competency, it is difficult for maintenance staff to perform tasks and correctly interpret the relevant maintenance manual instructions; any misunderstandings could lead to potential accidents. The survey results showed that the officers appreciated the importance of this more than the NCOs, who are the people actually doing the hands-on maintenance work. Military culture focuses on the success of a given mission, and leverages the power distance between the lower and higher ranks. In Thai society, a power distance also exists between younger and older citizens. In the RTAF, such a combination tends to inhibit a just reporting culture and hence hinders safety. The survey results confirmed this, showing that the older people and higher ranks involved with RTAF aircraft maintenance believe that the workplace has a positive safety culture and climate, whereas the younger people and lower ranks think the opposite. The final area of consideration concerned human factors training and non-technical skills training. The survey revealed that those participants who had previously attended such courses appreciated its value and were aware of its benefits in daily life. However, currently there is no regulation in the RTAF to mandate recurrent training to maintain such knowledge and skills. The findings from this work suggest that the people involved in assuring the continuing airworthiness of the RTAF would benefit from: (i) more rigorous requirements and standards in the recruitment, initial training and continuation training regarding English competence; (ii) the development of a strong safety culture that exploits the uniqueness of both the military culture and the Thai culture; and (iii) providing more initial and recurrent training in human factors and non-technical skills.

Keywords: Aircraft maintenance, continuing airworthiness, military culture, people, Royal Thai Air Force.

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Authors: Samat Turganbekov, Zhakan Mol

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This article examines the emergence and development of the Kazakhstan species of humanism. The biggest challenge for Kazakhstan in terms of humanism is connected with advocating human values in parallel to promoting national interests; preserving the continuity of traditions in various spheres of life, business and culture. This should be a common goal for the entire society, the main direction for a national intelligence, and a platform for the state policy. An idea worth considering is a formation of national humanist tradition model; the challenges are adapting people to live in the context of new industrial and innovative economic conditions, keeping the balance during intensive economic development of the country, and ensuring social harmony in the society.

Keywords: Kazakh humanism, humanist tradition, national culture, spiritual and moral priority, national interest.

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Authors: D. Sivakumar

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The groundwater quality was assessed nearby places of Nagalkeni, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The selected physico-chemical parameters were pH, EC, TDS, total hardness (TH), anions like Ca, Mg, Na and K, and cations like SO₄, NO_3, Cl_2, HCO₃, and CO₃, and Cr(VI). In order to suit the groundwater for drinking and irrigation purposes, compared the value of selected parameters with the value of selected parameters from BIS drinking water quality standard and irrigation water quality indices. The physico-chemical study of the groundwater systems of selected sites of nearby places of Nagalkeni showed that the groundwater is nearly acidic and mostly oxidizing in nature and hence, water is not suitable for drinking purpose directly. The results of the irrigation indices indicated that the groundwater samples in the study area found to be brackish water, results, groundwater from the study area is also not suitable for irrigation purpose directly, but the groundwater may be used after implementing some suitable treatment techniques.

Keywords: Physico-Chemical Parameters, Tannery Industry Effluent, Groundwater Quality Indices.

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Authors: Surinder Deswal, Vineet Verma

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Air Quality Index (AQI) is used as a tool to indicate the level of severity and disseminate the information on air pollution to enable the public to understand the health and environmental impacts of air pollutant concentration levels. The annual and seasonal variation of criteria air pollutants concentration based on the National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Programme has been conducted for a period of nine years (2006-2014) using the AQI system. AQI was calculated using IND-AQI methodology and Maximum Operator Concept is applied. An attempt has been made to quantify the variations in AQI on an annual and seasonal basis over a period of nine years. Further, year-wise frequency of occurrence of AQI in each category for all the five stations is analysed, which presents in depth analysis of trends over the period of study. The best air quality was observed in the Noida residential area, followed by Noida industrial area during the study period; whereas, Bulandshahar industrial area and Faridabad residential area were observed to have the worst air quality. A shift in the worst air quality from winter to summer season has also been observed during the study period. Further, the level of Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter was found to be above permissible limit at all the stations. The present study helps in enhancing public awareness and calls for the need of immediate measures to be taken to counter-effect the cause of the increasing level of air pollution.

Keywords: Air quality index, annual trends, criteria pollutants, seasonal variation.

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Authors: A.Khaja Kamaluddin, B.Muhammed Yousoof

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Routing places an important role in determining the quality of service in wireless networks. The routing methods adopted in wireless networks have many drawbacks. This paper aims to review the current routing methods used in wireless networks. This paper proposes an innovative solution to overcome the problems in routing. This solution is aimed at improving the Quality of Service. This solution is different from others as it involves the resuage of the part of the virtual circuits. This improvement in quality of service is important especially in propagation of multimedia applications like video, animations etc. So it is the dire need to propose a new solution to improve the quality of service in ATM wireless networks for multimedia applications especially during this era of multimedia based applications.

Keywords: Packet buffering, Routing Table, Virtual Circuits (VC)

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Authors: N. Lokeshwari, G. Srinikethan, V. S. Hegde

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Monitoring is essential to assessing the effectiveness of air pollution control actions. The goal of the air quality information system is through monitoring, to keep authorities, major polluters and the public informed on the short and long-term changes in air quality, thereby helping to raise awareness. Mathematical models are the best tools available for the prediction of the air quality management. The main objective of the work was to apply a Model that predicts the concentration levels of different pollutants at any instant of time. In this study, distribution of air pollutants concentration such as nitrogen dioxides (NO₂), sulphur dioxides (SO₂) and total suspended particulates (TSP) of industries are determined by using Gaussian model. Besides that, the effect of wind speed and its direction on the pollutant concentration within the affected area were evaluated. In order to determine the efficiency and percentage of error in the modeling, validation process of data was done. Sampling of air quality was conducted in getting existing air quality around a factory and the concentrations of pollutants in a plume were inversely proportional to wind velocity. The resultant ground level concentrations were then compared to the quality standards to determine if there could be a negative impact on health. This study concludes that concentration of pollutants can be significantly predicted using Gaussian Model. The data base management is developed for the air data of Hubli-Dharwad region.

Keywords: DBMS, NO2, SO2, Wind rose plots.

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Authors: Ikilem Gocek, Senem Kursun, Yesim Iridag Beceren

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The customer satisfaction for textile sector carries great importance like the customer satisfaction for other sectors carry. Especially, if it is considered that gaining new customers create four times more costs than protecting existing customers from leaving, it can be seen that the customer satisfaction plays a great role for the firms. In this study the affecting independent variables of customer satisfaction are chosen as brand image, perceived service quality and perceived product quality. By these independent variables, it is investigated that if any differences exist in perception of customer satisfaction according to the Turkish textile consumers in the view of gender. In data analysis of this research the SPSS program is used.

Keywords: Customer satisfaction, textile industry, brand image, service quality, product quality, gender.

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Authors: Amanzhol Kalysh, Didar Kassymova, Aliya Isaeva

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Practices of food sharing as part of the brotherhood and hospitality interpretation have been essential part of the Kazakh ethnic culture since early times. Dialogue in time and space between Kazakhs through differences in food interpretation among the ethnic repatriates may become a link connecting them and platform for stable relations with the host society or serious barrier on the way of their integration in the Kazakhstani society. The article elucidates by the field materials how some aspects of food culture differences among ethnic Kazakhs living abroad (XUAR of China) and ethnic repatriates in Kazakhstan may influence their integration path.

Keywords: Ethnic repatriation, food canon, Kazakh identity, oralman.

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Authors: H. El Khattabi, A. Tamtaoui, D. Aboutajdine

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In this paper, we present the video quality measure estimation via a neural network. This latter predicts MOS (mean opinion score) by providing height parameters extracted from original and coded videos. The eight parameters that are used are: the average of DFT differences, the standard deviation of DFT differences, the average of DCT differences, the standard deviation of DCT differences, the variance of energy of color, the luminance Y, the chrominance U and the chrominance V. We chose Euclidean Distance to make comparison between the calculated and estimated output.

Keywords: video, neural network MLP, subjective quality, DCT, DFT, Retropropagation

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Authors: Osama Elgadi, Martin Birkett, Wai Ming Cheung

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This paper investigates the barriers behind the underutilisation of six sigma in Libyan manufacturing companies (LMCs). A mixed-method methodology is proposed, starting by conducting interviews to collect qualitative data followed by the development of a questionnaire to obtain quantitative data. The focus of this paper is on discussing the findings of the interview stage and how these can be used to further develop the questionnaire stage. The interview results showed that only four key barriers were highlighted as being encountered by LMCs. With a difference in terms of their significance, these factors were identified, and placed in descending order according to their importance, namely: “Lack of top management commitment”, “Lack of training”, “Lack of knowledge about six sigma”, and “Culture effect”. The findings also showed that some barriers which, were found in previous studies of six sigma implementation were not considered as barriers to LMCs but can, in fact, be considered as success factors or enablers for six sigma adoption. These factors were identified as: “sufficiency of time and financial resources”; “customers unsatisfied”; “good communication between all departments in the company”; “we are certain about its results and benefits to our company and unhappy with the current quality system”. These results suggest that LMCs face fewer barriers to adopting six sigma than many well-established global companies operating in other countries and could take advantage of these successful factors by developing and implementing a six sigma framework to improve their product quality and competitiveness.

Keywords: Six sigma, barriers, Libyan manufacturing companies, interview.

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Authors: Iqbaldeep Kaur, Parvinder S. Sandhu, Hardeep Singh, Vandana Saini

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This paper is a survey of current component-based software technologies and the description of promotion and inhibition factors in CBSE. The features that software components inherit are also discussed. Quality Assurance issues in componentbased software are also catered to. The feat research on the quality model of component based system starts with the study of what the components are, CBSE, its development life cycle and the pro & cons of CBSE. Various attributes are studied and compared keeping in view the study of various existing models for general systems and CBS. When illustrating the quality of a software component an apt set of quality attributes for the description of the system (or components) should be selected. Finally, the research issues that can be extended are tabularized.

Keywords: Component, COTS, Component based development, Component-based Software Engineering.

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Authors: Levan Sabauri

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Audit is an independent inspection of the financial statement of the audited person and expresses the opinion of an auditor on the reliability of this statement. The auditor’s activity (auditor’s service) is realized by auditing organizations, individual auditors in connection to conduction of an audit and rendering of audit accompanying services. The profession of auditor means a high level of responsibility for rendered service. Results of decisions made by information users depend on the quality of the auditor’s conclusion. Owners, investors, creditors, and society rely on the opinion of the auditor under the condition that inspection was conducted with good quality. Therefore, the existence of the well-functioning audit quality control system for the administering of the audit is an important issue. An efficient audit quality control system is a substantial challenge that many countries face worldwide, especially those states where these systems are being formed within the respective reform program. The presented article reflects on the best practices of the leading countries, the assumptions and recommendations for the financial accounting, reporting and audit; current reforms in Georgia are made based on this comparative analysis.

Keywords: Audit quality control, audit program, financial statement, perspective analysis.

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Authors: Osa D Egonwa

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In the 21^st century, the disciplinary boundaries of past centuries that we often create through mainstream art historical classification, techniques and sources may have been eroded by visual culture, which seems to provide a more inclusive umbrella for the new ways artists go about the creative process and its resultant commodities. Over the past four decades, artists in Africa have resorted to new materials, techniques and themes which have affected our ways of research on these artists and their art. Frontline artists such as El Anatsui, Yinka Shonibare, Erasmus Onyishi are demonstrating that any material is just suitable for artistic expression. Most of times, these materials come with their own techniques/effects and visual syntax: a combination of materials compounds techniques, formal aesthetic indexes, halo effects, and iconography. This tends to challenge the categories and we lean on to view, think and talk about them. This renders our main stream art historical research methods inadequate, thus suggesting new discursive concepts, terms and theories. This paper proposed the Africanist eclectic methods derived from the dual framework of Masquerade Theory and What Comes Behind Six is More Than Seven. This paper shares thoughts/research on art historical methods, terminological re-alignments on classification/source data, presentational format and interpretation arising from the emergent trends in our subject. The outcome provides useful tools to mediate new thoughts and experiences in recent African art and visual culture.

Keywords: Art Historical Methods, Classifications, Concepts , Re-alignment.

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Authors: Iqbal Hossain, Dr. Monzur Imteaz, Dr. Shirley Gato-Trinidad, Prof. Abdallah Shanableh

Abstract:

Estimation of runoff water quality parameters is required to determine appropriate water quality management options. Various models are used to estimate runoff water quality parameters. However, most models provide event-based estimates of water quality parameters for specific sites. The work presented in this paper describes the development of a model that continuously simulates the accumulation and wash-off of water quality pollutants in a catchment. The model allows estimation of pollutants build-up during dry periods and pollutants wash-off during storm events. The model was developed by integrating two individual models; rainfall-runoff model, and catchment water quality model. The rainfall-runoff model is based on the time-area runoff estimation method. The model allows users to estimate the time of concentration using a range of established methods. The model also allows estimation of the continuing runoff losses using any of the available estimation methods (i.e., constant, linearly varying or exponentially varying). Pollutants build-up in a catchment was represented by one of three pre-defined functions; power, exponential, or saturation. Similarly, pollutants wash-off was represented by one of three different functions; power, rating-curve, or exponential. The developed runoff water quality model was set-up to simulate the build-up and wash-off of total suspended solids (TSS), total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN). The application of the model was demonstrated using available runoff and TSS field data from road and roof surfaces in the Gold Coast, Australia. The model provided excellent representation of the field data demonstrating the simplicity yet effectiveness of the proposed model.

Keywords: Catchment, continuous pollutants build-up, pollutants wash-off, runoff, runoff water quality model.

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Authors: Thanasit Suksutdhi

Abstract:

This survey research aims to study the standard of service quality of food and beverage service staffs in hotel business by studying the service standard of three sample hotels, Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok, Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai, and Banyan Tree Phuket. In order to find the international service standard of food and beverage service, triangular research, i.e. quantitative, qualitative, and survey were employed. In this research, questionnaires and in-depth interview were used for getting the information on the sequences and method of services. There were three parts of modified questionnaires to measure service quality and guest’s satisfaction including service facilities, attentiveness, responsibility, reliability, and circumspection. This study used sample random sampling to derive subjects with the return rate of the questionnaires was 70% or 280. Data were analyzed by SPSS to find arithmetic mean, SD, percentage, and comparison by t-test and One-way ANOVA. The results revealed that the service quality of the three hotels were in the international level which could create high satisfaction to the international customers. Recommendations for research implementations were to maintain the area of good service quality, and to improve some dimensions of service quality such as reliability. Training in service standard, product knowledge, and new technology for employees should be provided. Furthermore, in order to develop the service quality of the industry, training collaboration between hotel organization and educational institutions in food and beverage service should be considered.

Keywords: Service standard, food and beverage department, sequence of service, service method.

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Authors: Ranjan Sarukkalige, Dinushi Gamage

Abstract:

The aim of this study was to develop a storm water quality improvement strategy plan (WQISP) which assists managers and decision makers of local city councils in enhancing their activities to improve regional water quality. City of Gosnells in Western Australia has been considered as a case study. The procedure on developing the WQISP consists of reviewing existing water quality data, identifying water quality issues in the study areas and developing a decision making tool for the officers, managers and decision makers. It was found that land use type is the main factor affecting the water quality. Therefore, activities, sources and pollutants related to different land use types including residential, industrial, agricultural and commercial are given high importance during the study. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with coordinators of different management sections of the regional councils in order to understand the associated management framework and issues. The issues identified from these interviews were used in preparing the decision making tool. Variables associated with the defined “value versus threat" decision making tool are obtained from the intensive literature review. The main recommendations provided for improvement of water quality in local city councils, include non-structural, structural and management controls and potential impacts of climate change.

Keywords: Storm water quality, Storm water Management, Land use, Strategy plan

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