Search results for: Quality of Research

Authors: Lenka Ocenasova, Bartosz Gapinski, Robert Cep, Linda Gregova, Branimir Barisic, Jana Novakova, Lenka Petrkovska

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Today technological process makes possible surface control of producing parts which is needful for product quality guarantee. Geometrical structure of part surface includes form, proportion, accuracy to shape, accuracy to size, alignment and surface topography (roughness, waviness, etc.). All these parameters are dependence at technology, production machine parameters, material properties, but also at human, etc. Every parameters approves at total part accuracy, it is means at accuracy to shape. One of the most important accuracy to shape element is roundness. This paper will be deals by comparison of roughness deviations at coordination measuring machines and at special single purpose machines. Will describing measuring by discreet method (discontinuous) and scanning method (continuous) at coordination measuring machines and confrontation with reference method using at single purpose machines.

Keywords: Coordinating Measuring Machines (CMM), Measuring Strategy, Roughness Deviation, Accuracy.

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Authors: Ivana Bulog

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Decision making is a vital part of the business world and any other field of human endeavor. Which way a business organization will take, and where that way will lead it, depends on broad range of decisions made by managers in the managerial structure. Strategic decisions are of the greatest importance for organizational success. Although much empirical research has been done trying to describe and explain its nature and effectiveness, knowledge about strategic decision making is still incomplete. This paper explores the nature of strategic decision making in particular setting - in Croatian companies. The main focus of this research is on the style that decision makers on strategic management level are following when making decisions of life importance for their companies. Two main decision making style that explain the way decision maker collects and processes available information and performs all the activities in strategic decision making process were empirical tested: rational and intuitive one. Besides analyzing their existence on strategic management level in Croatian companies, their effectiveness is analyzed as well. Results showed that decision makers at strategic management level are following both styles somewhat equally in order to function effectively, and that intuitive style is more effective when considering decisions outcomes.

Keywords: Decision making style, decision making effectiveness, strategic decisions.

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Authors: H. Sakamoto, Y. Nakagawara, S. Oguri

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Drought stress is a critical environmental factor that adversely affects crop productivity and quality. Because of their immobile nature, plants have evolved mechanisms to sense and respond to drought stress. We identified a novel locus of Arabidopsis, designated DRA1 (drought responsive ankyrin1), whose disruption leads to increased drought-stress tolerance. DRA1 encodes a transmembrane protein with an ankyrin-repeat motif that has been implicated in diverse cellular processes such as signal transduction. RT-PCR analysis revealed that there were at least two splicing variants of DRA1 transcripts in wild-type plants. In response to drought stress, the levels of DRA1 transcripts retaining second and third introns were increased, whereas these introns were removed under unstressed conditions. These results suggest that DRA1 protein may negatively regulate plant drought tolerance and that the expression of DRA1is regulated in response to drought stress by alternative splicing.

Keywords: Alternative splicing, ankyrin repeat, Arabidopsis, drought tolerance.

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Authors: Ming-Hui Cheng, Jyh-Horng Jeng

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In this study, a classification-based video super-resolution method using artificial neural network (ANN) is proposed to enhance low-resolution (LR) to high-resolution (HR) frames. The proposed method consists of four main steps: classification, motion-trace volume collection, temporal adjustment, and ANN prediction. A classifier is designed based on the edge properties of a pixel in the LR frame to identify the spatial information. To exploit the spatio-temporal information, a motion-trace volume is collected using motion estimation, which can eliminate unfathomable object motion in the LR frames. In addition, temporal lateral process is employed for volume adjustment to reduce unnecessary temporal features. Finally, ANN is applied to each class to learn the complicated spatio-temporal relationship between LR and HR frames. Simulation results show that the proposed method successfully improves both peak signal-to-noise ratio and perceptual quality.

Keywords: Super-resolution, classification, spatio-temporal information, artificial neural network.

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Authors: S. Kumchoo

Abstract:

The result of suggestion for low energy diet (1,000-1,200 kcal) in obese women to the effect on body weight, waist circumference and body mass index (BMI) in this experiment. Quisi experimental research was used for this study and it is a One-group pretest-posttest designs measurement method. The aim of this study was body weight, waist circumference and body mass index (BMI) reduction by using low energy diet (1,000-1,200 kcal) in obese women, the result found that in 15 of obese women that contained their body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30, after they obtained low energy diet (1,000-1,200 kcal) within 2 weeks. The data were collected before and after of testing the results showed that the average of body weight decrease 3.4 kilogram, waist circumference value decrease 6.1 centimeter and the body mass index (BMI) decrease 1.3 kg.m² from their previous body weight, waist circumference and body mass index (BMI) before experiment started. After this study, the volunteers got healthy and they can choose or select some food for themselves. For this study, the research can be improved for data development for forward study in the future.

Keywords: Body weight, waist circumference, BMI, low energy diet.

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Authors: Swadhin Ku. Mishra, Sidhartha Panda, Simanchala Padhy, C. Ardil

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In this paper, real-coded genetic algorithm (RCGA) optimization technique has been applied for large-scale linear dynamic multi-input-multi-output (MIMO) system. The method is based on error minimization technique where the integral square error between the transient responses of original and reduced order models has been minimized by RCGA. The reduction procedure is simple computer oriented and the approach is comparable in quality with the other well-known reduction techniques. Also, the proposed method guarantees stability of the reduced model if the original high-order MIMO system is stable. The proposed approach of MIMO system order reduction is illustrated with the help of an example and the results are compared with the recently published other well-known reduction techniques to show its superiority.

Keywords: Multi-input-multi-output (MIMO) system.Modelorder reduction. Integral squared error (ISE). Real-coded geneticalgorithm

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Authors: K. Cormican, G. Coppola, S. Farina

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Knowledge management is a critical component of competitive success in service organizations. Knowledge management centers on creating new knowledge and utilizing existing knowledge. While utilizing existing knowledge relates to input and control and can lead to a reduction in costs; creating new knowledge relates to output and growth and can lead to an increase in revenue. Therefore managers must ensure that they can successfully optimize the knowledge and talent in their organizations. To do this they and must try to develop an environment that promotes the generation, acquisition, transfer and use of valuable knowledge in creative ways. However knowledge management is complex and diverse. Research suggests that organizations in general and SMEs in particular are finding it difficult to implement successful knowledge management initiatives. Our research attempts to understand whether organizations are adopting best practice initiatives in their organizations. This paper presents findings from an exploratory study of 139 SMEs operating in the tourism sector across Europe. The goals of the survey is to assess the level of awareness of knowledge and talent management strategies and methodologies and to determine whether the responding companies implement best practice knowledge management initiatives in their organizations Analysis of the findings from the study are presented and discussed.

Keywords: service sector, small enterprise, success factors, survey

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Authors: Mohd Hafiz Hanafiah, Mohamad Abdullah Hemdi

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The tourism industry has been widely used to eradicate poverty, due to the ability to generate income, employment as well as improving the quality of life. The industry has faced rapid growth with support from local residents who were involved directly and indirectly in tourism activities. Their support and behaviour does not only facilitate in boosting tourists’ satisfaction levels, but at the same time it contributes to the word-of-mouth promotion among the visitors. In order to ensure the success of the industry, the involvement and participation of the local communities are pertinent. This paper endeavours on local community attitudes, benefit and their support toward future tourism development in Tioman Island. Through a series of descriptive and factor analyses, various useful understandings on the issues of interest revealed. The findings indicated that community with personal benefit will support future development. Meanwhile, the finding also revealed that the community with negative perception still supports future tourism development due to their over reliance on this sector as their main source of income and destination development means.

Keywords: Personal benefit, perceived impact, future attitudes.

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Authors: Tri Sulistyaningtyas, Yani Suryani, Dana Waskita, Linda Handayani Sukaemi, Ferry Fauzi Hermawan

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The enthusiasm of foreigners studying the Indonesian language by Foreign Speakers (BIPA) was documented in a sitcom "International Class". Tone and stress when they speak the Indonesian language is unique and different from Indonesian pronunciation. By using the Praat program, this research aims to describe prosodic Indonesian language which is spoken by ‘International Class” actors consisting of Abbas from Nigeria, Lee from Korea, and Kotaro from Japan. Data for the research are taken from the video sitcom "International Class" that aired on Indonesian television. The results of this study revealed that pitch movement that arises when pronouncing Indonesian sentences was up and down gradually, there is also a rise and fall sharply. In terms of stress, respondents tend to contain a lot of stress when pronouncing Indonesian sentences. Meanwhile, in terms of temporal structure, the duration pronouncing Indonesian sentences tends to be longer than that of Indonesian speakers.

Keywords: Melodic structure, temporal structure, prosody, experimental phonetics, international class.

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Authors: Moustafa S. El-Sammany

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Flash floods are considered natural disasters that can cause casualties and demolishing of infra structures. The problem is that flash floods, particularly in arid and semi arid zones, take place in very short time. So, it is important to forecast flash floods earlier to its events with a lead time up to 48 hours to give early warning alert to avoid or minimize disasters. The flash flood took place over Wadi Watier - Sinai Peninsula, in October 24th, 2008, has been simulated, investigated and analyzed using the state of the art regional weather model. The Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model, which is a reliable short term forecasting tool for precipitation events, has been utilized over the study area. The model results have been calibrated with the real data, for the same date and time, of the rainfall measurements recorded at Sorah gauging station. The WRF model forecasted total rainfall of 11.6 mm while the real measured one was 10.8 mm. The calibration shows significant consistency between WRF model and real measurements results.

Keywords: Early warning system, Flash floods forecasting, WadiWatier, WRF model.

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Authors: L. Lakhdari, B. Bouchiba, M. Bechar

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The multi-level inverters present an important novelty in the field of energy control with high voltage and power. The major advantage of all multi-level inverters is the improvement and spectral quality of its generated output signals. In recent years, various pulse width modulation techniques have been developed. From these technics we have: Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation (SPWM) and Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation (SVPWM). This work presents a detailed analysis of the comparative advantage of space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) and the standard SPWM technique for Three Level Diode Clamped Inverter fed Induction Motor. The comparison is based on the evaluation of harmonic distortion THD.

Keywords: Induction motor, multi-level inverters, NPC inverter, sinusoidal pulse width modulation, space vector pulse width modulation.

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Authors: S. M. Ahuja

Abstract:

A Rice Sheller is used for obtaining polished white rice from paddy. There are about 3000 Rice Shellers in Punjab and 50000 in India. During the process of shelling lot of dust is emitted from different unit operations like paddy silo, paddy shaker, bucket elevators, huskers, paddy separator etc. These dust emissions have adverse effect on the health of the workers and the wear and tear of the shelling machinery is fast. All the dust emissions spewing out of these unit operations of a rice Sheller were contained by providing suitable hoods and enclosures while ensuring their workability. These were sucked by providing an induced draft fan followed by a high efficiency cyclone separator that has got an overall dust collection efficiency of more than 90%. This cyclone separator replaced two cyclone separators and a filter bag house, which the Rice Sheller was already having. The dust concentration in the stack after the installation of cyclone separator is well within the stipulated standards. Besides controlling pollution, there is improvement in the quality of products like bran and the life of shelling machinery has enhanced. The payback period of this technology is less than four shelling months.

Keywords: Air Pollution, Cyclone Separator, Pneumatic Conveying, Rice Sheller.

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Authors: Abdulwahab Alalyani, Mahbub Rashid

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Public green space promotes community health including daily activities, but these resources may not be available enough or may not equitably be distributed. This paper measures and compares the availability of public green spaces (PGS) among low, middle, and high-income neighborhoods in the Riyadh city. Additionally, it compares the total availability of PGS to WHO standard and Dubai availability of PGS per person. All PGS were mapped using geographical information systems, and total area availability of PGS compared to WHO and Dubai standards. To evaluate the significant differences in PGS availability across low, medium, and high-income Riyadh neighborhoods, we used a One-way ANOVA analysis of covariance to test the differences. As a result, by comparing PGS of Riyadh neighborhoods to WHO and Dubai-availability, it was found that Riyadh PGS were lower than the minimum standard of WHO and as well as Dubai. Riyadh has only 1.13 m² per capita of PGS. The second finding, the availability of PGS, was significantly different among Riyadh neighborhoods based on socioeconomic status. The future development of PGS should be focused on increasing PGS availability and should be given priority to those low-income and unhealthy communities.

Keywords: Spatial equity, green space, healthy city, quality of life, income, built environment.

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Authors: José A. D. Machuca, Bernabé Escobar-Pérez, Pedro Garrido Vega, Darkys E. Lujan García

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Starting with an analysis of the financial and operational indicators that can be found in the specialised literature, this study aims to contribute to improvements in the performance measurement systems used when the unit of analysis is the manufacturing plant. For this a search was done in the highest impact Journals of Production and Operations Management and Management Accounting , with the aim of determining the financial and operational indicators used to evaluate performance when Advanced Production Practices have been implemented, more specifically when the practices implemented are Total Quality Management, JIT/Lean Manufacturing and Total Productive Maintenance. This has enabled us to obtain a classification of the two types of indicators based on how much each is used. For the financial indicators we have also prepared a proposal that can be adapted to manufacturing plants- accounting features. In the near future we will propose a model that links practices implementation with financial and operational indicators and these two last with each other. We aim to will test this model empirically with the data obtained in the High Performance Manufacturing Project.

Keywords: Advanced Production Practices, Financial Indicators, Non-Financial Indicators

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Authors: M. Mohamadi, A. M. Maskooki., S. A. Mortazavi

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The quality and shelf life of foods of containing lipids (fats and oils) significantly reduces due to rancidity.Applications of natural antioxidants are one of the most effective manners to prevent the oxidation of oils and lipids. The antioxidant properties of juice extracted from barberry fruit (Berberris vulgaris.L) using maceration and SWE (10 bars and 120 - 180°C) methods were investigated and compared with conventional method. The amount of phenolic compound and reduction power of all samples were determined and the data were statistically analyzed using multifactor design. The results showed that the total amount of phenolic compound increased with increasing of pressure and temprature from 1861.9 to 2439.1 (mg Gallic acid /100gr Dry matter). The ability of reduction power of SWE obtained antioxidant extract compared with BHA (synthetic antioxidant) and ascorbic acid (natural antioxidant). There were significant differences among reduction power of extracts and there were remarkable difference with BHA and Ascorbic acid (P<0.01).

Keywords: Subcritical water, Antioxidant, Barberry, Phenolic compound, Reduction power

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Authors: G.Kavitha, V.Sankaranarayanan

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Grid computing provides a virtual framework for controlled sharing of resources across institutional boundaries. Recently, trust has been recognised as an important factor for selection of optimal resources in a grid. We introduce a new method that provides a quantitative trust value, based on the past interactions and present environment characteristics. This quantitative trust value is used to select a suitable resource for a job and eliminates run time failures arising from incompatible user-resource pairs. The proposed work will act as a tool to calculate the trust values of the various components of the grid and there by improves the success rate of the jobs submitted to the resource on the grid. The access to a resource not only depend on the identity and behaviour of the resource but also upon its context of transaction, time of transaction, connectivity bandwidth, availability of the resource and load on the resource. The quality of the recommender is also evaluated based on the accuracy of the feedback provided about a resource. The jobs are submitted for execution to the selected resource after finding the overall trust value of the resource. The overall trust value is computed with respect to the subjective and objective parameters.

Keywords: access control, feedback, grid computing, reputation, security, trust, trust parameter.

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Authors: Chaiwat Tantarangsee

Abstract:

The purposes of this study are 1) to identify learning styles of university students in Bangkok, and 2) to study the frequency of the relevant instructional context of the identified learning styles. Learning Styles employed in this study are those of Honey and Mumford, which include 1) Reflectors, 2) Theorists, 3) Pragmatists, and 4) Activists. The population comprises 1383 students and 5 lecturers. Research tools are 2 questionnaires – one used for identifying students- learning styles, and the other used for identifying the frequency of the relevant instructional context of the identified learning styles. The research findings reveal that 32.30 percent - are Activists, while 28.10 percent are Theorists, 20.10 are Reflectors, and 19.50 are Pragmatists. In terms of the relevant instructional context of the identified 4 learning styles, it is found that the frequency level of the instructional context is totally in high level. Moreover, 2 lists of the context being conducted most frequently are 'Lead'in activity to review background knowledge,- and 'Information retrieval report.' And these two activities serve the learning styles of theorists and activists. It is, therefore, suggested that more instructional context supporting the activists, the majority of the population, learning best by doing, as well as emotional learning situation should be added.

Keywords: Instructional Context, Learning Styles, Learning Style Preference, and Learning Style Questionnaire.

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Authors: W. K. Hiromi Ariyaratne, Morten C. Melaaen, Lars-André Tokheim

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A mathematical model based on a mass and energy balance for the combustion in a cement rotary kiln was developed. The model was used to investigate the impact of replacing about 45 % of the primary coal energy by different alternative fuels. Refuse derived fuel, waste wood, solid hazardous waste and liquid hazardous waste were used in the modeling. The results showed that in order to keep the kiln temperature unchanged, and thereby maintain the required clinker quality, the production capacity had to be reduced by 1-15 %, depending on the fuel type. The reason for the reduction is increased exhaust gas flow rates caused by the fuel characteristics. The model, which has been successfully validated in a full-scale experiment, was also used to show that the negative impact on the production capacity can be avoided if a relatively small part of the combustion air is replaced by pure oxygen.

Keywords: Alternative fuels, Cement kiln main burner, Oxygen enrichment, Production capacity.

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Authors: Cai Guoqiang, Jia Limin, Zhou Liming, Liang yu, Li xi

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This paper analysis the integrated use of safety monitoring with the domestic and international latest research on rail safety protection system, and focus on the implementation of an organic whole system, with the monitoring and early warning, risk assessment, predictive control and emergency rescue system. The system framework, contents and system structure of Security system is proposed completely. It-s pointed out that the Security system is a negative feedback system composed of by safety monitoring and warning system, risk assessment and emergency rescue system. Safety monitoring and warning system focus on the monitoring target monitoring, early warning, tracking, integration of decision-making, for objective and subjective risks factors. Risk assessment system analysis the occurrence of a major Security risk mechanism, determines the standard of the future short, medium and long term safety conditions, and give prop for development of safety indicators, accident analysis and safety standards. Emergency rescue system is with the goal of rapid and effective rescue work for accident, to minimize casualties and property losses.

Keywords: rail safety protection, monitoring and early warning, risk assessment, emergency rescue.

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Authors: M. Velasco, D. While, P. Raju, J. Krasniewicz, A. Amini, L. Hernandez-Munoz

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Web service adaptation involves the creation of adapters that solve Web services incompatibilities known as mismatches. Since the importance of Web services adaptation is increasing because of the frequent implementation and use of online Web services, this paper presents a literature review of web services to investigate the main methods of adaptation, their theoretical underpinnings and the metrics used to measure adapters performance. Eighteen publications were reviewed independently by two researchers. We found that adaptation techniques are needed to solve different types of problems that may arise due to incompatibilities in Web service interfaces, including protocols, messages, data and semantics that affect the interoperability of the services. Although adapters are non-invasive methods that can improve Web services interoperability and there are current approaches for service adaptation; there is, however, not yet one solution that fits all types of mismatches. Our results also show that only a few research projects incorporate theoretical frameworks and that metrics to measure adapters’ performance are very limited. We conclude that further research on software adaptation should improve current adaptation methods in different layers of the service interoperability and that an adaptation theoretical framework that incorporates a theoretical underpinning and measures of qualitative and quantitative performance needs to be created.

Keywords: Web services adapters, software adaptation, web services mismatches, web services interoperability.

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Authors: P. Kumsawat, N. Pimpru, K. Attakitmongcol, A.Srikaew

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In this paper, we proposed an efficient data compression strategy exploiting the multi-resolution characteristic of the wavelet transform. We have developed a sensor node called “Smart Sensor Node; SSN". The main goals of the SSN design are lightweight, minimal power consumption, modular design and robust circuitry. The SSN is made up of four basic components which are a sensing unit, a processing unit, a transceiver unit and a power unit. FiOStd evaluation board is chosen as the main controller of the SSN for its low costs and high performance. The software coding of the implementation was done using Simulink model and MATLAB programming language. The experimental results show that the proposed data compression technique yields recover signal with good quality. This technique can be applied to compress the collected data to reduce the data communication as well as the energy consumption of the sensor and so the lifetime of sensor node can be extended.

Keywords: Wireless sensor network, wavelet transform, data compression, ZigBee, skipped high-pass sub-band.

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Authors: Phatthanan Chaiyabut

Abstract:

The purposes of this research were to identify the perception of customers towards Krung Thai Bank’s image and to understand the customer attitude towards Krung Thai Bank’s image in Bangkok, Thailand. This research utilized quantitative approach and used questionnaire as data collection tool. A sample size of 420 respondents was selected by simple random sampling. The findings revealed that the majority of respondents received information, news, and feeds concerning the bank through televisions the most. This information channel had significantly influenced on the customers and their decisions to utilize the bank’s products and services.

From the information concerning the attitudes towards overall image of the bank, it was found that the majority respondents rated the bank’s image at the good level. The top three average attitudes included the bank’s images in supports government's monetary policies, being renowned and stable, and contributing in economical amendments and developments, with the mean average of 4.01, 3.96 and 3.81 respectively. The attitudes toward the images included a business leader in banking, marketing, and competitions. Offering prompt services, and provided appropriate servicing time were rated moderate with the attitudes of 3.36 and 3.30 respectively.

Keywords: Attitude, Image, Krung Thai bank, Perception.

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Authors: Fiona Wahr, Sitalakshmi Venkatraman

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Industry employers require new graduates to bring with them a range of knowledge, skills and abilities which mean these new employees can immediately make valuable work contributions. These will be a combination of discipline and professional knowledge, skills and abilities which give graduates the technical capabilities to solve practical problems whilst interacting with a range of stakeholders. Underpinning the development of these disciplines and professional knowledge, skills and abilities, are “enabling” knowledge, skills and abilities which assist students to engage in learning. These are academic and learning skills which are essential to common starting points for both the learning process of students entering the course as well as forming the foundation for the fully developed graduate knowledge, skills and abilities. This paper reports on a project created to introduce and strengthen these enabling skills into the first semester of a Bachelor of Information Technology degree in an Australian polytechnic. The project uses an action research approach in the context of ongoing continuous improvement for the course to enhance the overall learning experience, learning sequencing, graduate outcomes, and most importantly, in the first semester, student engagement and retention. The focus of this is implementing the new curriculum in first semester subjects of the course with the aim of developing the “enabling” learning skills, such as literacy, research and numeracy based knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs). The approach used for the introduction and embedding of these KSAs, (as both enablers of learning and to underpin graduate attribute development), is presented. Building on previous publications which reported different aspects of this longitudinal study, this paper recaps on the rationale for the curriculum redevelopment and then presents the quantitative findings of entering students’ reading literacy and numeracy knowledge and skills degree as well as their perceived research ability. The paper presents the methodology and findings for this stage of the research. Overall, the cohort exhibits mixed KSA levels in these areas, with a relatively low aggregated score. In addition, the paper describes the considerations for adjusting the design and delivery of the new subjects with a targeted learning experience, in response to the feedback gained through continuous monitoring. Such a strategy is aimed at accommodating the changing learning needs of the students and serves to support them towards achieving the enabling learning goals starting from day one of their higher education studies.

Keywords: Enabling skills, student retention, embedded learning support, continuous improvement.

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Authors: Svetlana Pushkar

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The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system is recognized in Europe. LEED uses regional priority (RP) points that are adapted to different environmental conditions. However, the appropriateness of the RP points is still a controversial question. To clarify this issue, two different parts of Europe: northern Europe (Finland and Sweden) and southern Europe (Turkey and Spain) were considered. Similarities and differences in the performances of LEED 2009-new construction (LEED-NC 2009) in these four countries were analyzed. It was found that LEED-NC 2009 performances in northern and southern parts of Europe in terms of Sustainable Sites (SS), Water Efficiency (WE), Materials and Resources (MR), and Indoor Environmental Quality (EQ) were similar, whereas in Energy and Atmosphere (EA), their performances were different. WE and SS revealed high performances (70-100%); EA and EQ demonstrated intermediate performance (40-60%); and MR displayed low performance (20-40%). It should be recommended introducing the following new RP points: for Turkey - water-related points and for all four observed countries - green power-related points for improving the LEED adaptation in Europe.

Keywords: Green building, Europe, LEED, regional priority points.

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Authors: Josiane R. Pires, Marco A. S. González, Bruna L. Brenner, Luciana S. Roos

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The concern with sustainability brought the need for optimization of the buildings to reduce consumption of natural resources. Almost 1/3 of energy demanded by Brazilian housings is used to provide thermal solutions. AEC sector may contribute applying bioclimatic strategies on building design. The aim of this research is to investigate the viability of applying some alternative solutions in residential buildings. The research was developed with computational simulation on single family social housing, examining envelope type, absorptance, and insolation. The analysis of the thermal performance applied both Brazilian standard NBR 15575 and degree-hour method, in the scenery of Porto Alegre, a southern Brazilian city. We used BIM modeling through Revit/Autodesk and used Energy Plus to thermal simulation. The payback of the investment was calculated comparing energy savings and building costs, in a period of 50 years. The results shown that with the increment of envelope’s insulation there is thermal comfort improvement and energy economy, with a pay-back period of 24 to 36 years, in some cases.

Keywords: Civil construction, design, thermal performance, energy, economic analysis.

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Authors: S. B. Fasoyiro, K. A. Arowora

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Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) blanched for 20min was dehulled and milled into flour. The flour was incorporated into dried whole fermented maize (Ogi) at five levels. The resultant products were analyzed for chemical and pasting properties. The fortified Ogi samples were also assessed for sensory attributes: appearance, color, flavor, mouth feel and overall acceptability. The protein content in the whole Ogi fortified samples was in the range of 11.2-16.6% and crude fibre 3.22-3.46%. Fortified whole Ogi with pigeon pea at 30%, 40% and 50% of inclusion with pigeon pea flour has higher protein, crude fibre and ash content. Varying range of pasting quality was recorded for the blends, pasting temperature for fortified Obi was in the range of 45.3-49.50C and peak time 5.05-5.210C. The sensory acceptability of the whole Ogi fortified blends prepared into gruel has higher acceptability for various qualities in comparison with the traditional Ogi gruel.

Keywords: Maize Ogi, pigeon pea, chemical, pasting, sensory properties.

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Authors: Anne-Lena Kampen, Øivind Kure

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Machine learning (ML) can be implemented in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) as a central solution or distributed solution where the ML is embedded in the nodes. Embedding improves privacy and may reduce prediction delay. In addition, the number of transmissions is reduced. However, quality factors such as prediction accuracy, fault detection efficiency and coordinated control of the overall system suffer. Here, we discuss and highlight the trade-offs that should be considered when choosing between embedding and centralized ML, especially for multihop networks. In addition, we present estimations that demonstrate the energy trade-offs between embedded and centralized ML. Although the total network energy consumption is lower with central prediction, it makes the network more prone for partitioning due to the high forwarding load on the one-hop nodes. Moreover, the continuous improvements in the number of operations per joule for embedded devices will move the energy balance toward embedded prediction.

Keywords: Central ML, embedded machine learning, energy consumption, local ML, Wireless Sensor Networks, WSN.

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Authors: R. Bhuvenesh, M.H. Norizaman, M.S. Abdul Manan

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Industrial surveys shows that manufacturing companies define the qualities of thermal removing process based on the dimension and physical appearance of the cutting material surface. Therefore, the roughness of the surface area of the material cut by the plasma arc cutting process and the rate of the removed material by the manual plasma arc cutting machine was importantly considered. Plasma arc cutter Selco Genesis 90 was used to cut Standard AISI 1017 Steel of 200 mm x100 mm x 6 mm manually based on the selected parameters setting. The material removal rate (MRR) was measured by determining the weight of the specimens before and after the cutting process. The surface roughness (SR) analysis was conducted using Mitutoyo CS-3100 to determine the average roughness value (Ra). Taguchi method was utilized to achieve optimum condition for both outputs studied. The microstructure analysis in the region of the cutting surface is performed using SEM. The results reveal that the SR values are inversely proportional to the MRR values. The quality of the surface roughness depends on the dross peak that occurred after the cutting process.

Keywords: Material removal rate, plasma arc cutting, surface roughness, Taguchi method

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Authors: Veruska C. Dutra, Mary L. G. S. Senna

Abstract:

The principle of sustainability has been studied by different sciences with the purpose of formulating clear and concrete models. Much has been discussed about sustainability, and several points of view have been used to try to explain it; environmental science emerges from various environmental discourses that are willing to establish a new concept for understanding this complexity. This way, we focus on the activity of ecotourism as a way to integrate sustainable practices proposed by environmental science, and thus, make it possible to create a new perspective for eco-tourists and the managers of tourist destinations towards nature. The aim of this study was to suggest a direction for environmental awareness, based on environmental science, to change the eco-tourist's view of nature in ecotourism tours. The methodology used was based on a case study concerning the Jalapão State Park - JSP, located in the State of Tocantins, Northern Brazil. The study was based on discussions, theoretical studies, bibliographical research and on-site research. We have identified that to incite the tourists’ awareness, they need to visit nature to understand the environmental problems and promote actions for its preservation. We highlight in this study actions to drive their human perception through environmental science, so that the ecotourism itinerary tours to the JSP, promote a balance between the natural environment and the tourist, making them, in this way, environmental tourists.

Keywords: Science, environmental, ecotourism, Jalapão.

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Authors: G. Lingam, N. Lingam, K. Raghuwaiya

Abstract:

Thirty-eight rural school leaders in Solomon Islands responded to a questionnaire aimed at identifying their perceptions of work challenges. The data analysis points to an overwhelming percentage of school leaders feeling they face multifaceted problems in their work settings, including such challenges as untrained teachers, lack of funding, limited learning and teaching resources, and land disputes. The latter in particular is beyond the school leader’s jurisdiction; addressing it needs urgent attention from the principal stakeholder(s). Such challenges, seemingly tangential to the business of schooling, inadvertently affect the provision of good-quality education. The findings demonstrate that contextual challenges raise questions about what powers leadership at school level has to deal with some of them. The suggestion is advanced for the significant place-conscious leadership development to help address some community and cultural challenges. Implications of this paper are likely to be relevant to other similar contexts in the Pacific region and beyond.

Keywords: Rural school leaders, leadership, challenges, Solomon Islands, contextual factors.

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