Search results for: social mechanisms
1683 Self-Reliant and Auto-Directed Learning: Modes, Elements, Fields and Scopes
Authors: H. Mashhady, B. Lotfi, M. Doosti, M. Fatollahi
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An exploration of the related literature reveals that all instruction methods aim at training autonomous learners. After the turn of second language pedagogy toward learner-oriented strategies, learners’ needs were more focused. Yet; the historical, social and political aspects of learning were still neglected. The present study investigates the notion of autonomous learning and explains its various facets from a pedagogical point of view. Furthermore; different elements, fields and scopes of autonomous learning will be explored. After exploring different aspects of autonomy, it is postulated that liberatory autonomy is highlighted since it not only covers social autonomy but also reveals learners’ capabilities and human potentials. It is also recommended that learners consider different elements of autonomy such as motivation, knowledge, confidence, and skills.
Keywords: Critical pedagogy, social autonomy, academic learning, cultural notions.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20441682 The Role of Social Civil Competencies in Organizational Performance
Authors: I. Martins, A. Martins
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The European Union supports social and civil competencies as being a core element to develop sustainability of organizations, people and regions. These competencies are fundamental for the well-being of the community because they include interpersonal, intrapersonal as well as their civil, active and democratic participation in organizations. The combination of these competencies reveals the organizational socio-emotional maturity and allows relevant levels of performance. It also allows the development of various capitals, namely, human, structural, relational and social, with direct influence on performance. But along this path, the emotional aspect has not been valued as a capital, given that contemporary society is based on knowledge capital and is flooded with information viewed as a capital. The present study, based on the importance of these socio-emotional capitals, aims to show that the competencies of cooperation, interpersonal understanding, empathy, kindness, ability to listen, and tolerance, to mention a few, are strategic in consolidating knowledge within organizations. This implies that the humanizing processes, both inside and outside the organizations, are revitalized. The question is how to go about doing this and its implementation; as well as, where to begin and which guidelines to take on. These are the foci that guide the present study, bearing in mind the directions of the knowledge economy.
Keywords: Social competencies, civil competencies, humanizing, performance.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5831681 Towards an Analysis of Rhetoric of Digital Arabic Discourse
Authors: Gameel Abdelmageed
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Arabs have a rhetorical heritage which has greatly contributed to the monitoring and analyzing of the rhetoric of the Holy Quran, Hadith, and Arabic texts on poetry and oratory. But Arab scholars - as far as the researcher knows – have not contributed to monitoring and analyzing the rhetoric of digital Arabic discourse although it has prominence, particularly in social media and has strong effectiveness in the political and social life of Arab society. This discourse has made its impact by using very new rhetorical techniques in language, voice, image, painting and video clips which are known as “Multimedia” and belong to “Digital Rhetoric”. This study suggests that it is time to draw the attention of Arab scholars and invite them to monitor and analyze the rhetoric of digital Arabic discourse.
Keywords: Digital discourse, digital rhetoric, social media, Facebook.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9621680 Interactive Effects in Blended Learning Mode: Exploring Hybrid Data Sources and Iterative Linkages
Authors: Hock Chuan, Lim
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This paper presents an approach for identifying interactive effects using Network Science (NS) supported by Social Network Analysis (SNA) techniques. Based on general observations that learning processes and behaviors are shaped by the social relationships and influenced by learning environment, the central idea was to understand both the human and non-human interactive effects for a blended learning mode of delivery of computer science modules. Important findings include (a) the importance of non-human nodes to influence the centrality and transfer; (b) the degree of non-human and human connectivity impacts learning. This project reveals that the NS pattern and connectivity as measured by node relationships offer alternative approach for hypothesis generation and design of qualitative data collection. An iterative process further reinforces the analysis, whereas the experimental simulation option itself is an interesting alternative option, a hybrid combination of both experimental simulation and qualitative data collection presents itself as a promising and viable means to study complex scenario such as blended learning delivery mode. The primary value of this paper lies in the design of the approach for studying interactive effects of human (social nodes) and non-human (learning/study environment, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) infrastructures nodes) components. In conclusion, this project adds to the understanding and the use of SNA to model and study interactive effects in blended social learning.
Keywords: Blended learning, network science, social learning, social network analysis, study environment.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6581679 Exploring DeFi Through Three Case Studies: Transparency, Social Impact and Regulation
Authors: Dhaksha Vivekanandan
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DeFi is a network that avoids reliance on financial intermediaries through its peer-to-peer financial network. DeFi operates outside of government control; hence, it is important for us to understand its impacts. This study employs a literature review to understand DeFi and its emergence, as well as its implications on transparency, social impact, and regulation. Further, three case studies are analysed within the context of these categories. DeFi’s provision of increased transparency poses environmental and storage costs and can lead to user privacy being endangered. DeFi allows for the provision of entrepreneurial incentives and protection against monetary censorship and capital control. Despite DeFi's transparency issues and volatility costs, it has huge potential to reduce poverty; however, regulation surrounding DeFi still requires further tightening by governments.
Keywords: DeFi, transparency, regulation, social impact.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2501678 Competency-Based Social Work Practice and Challenges in Child Case Management: Studies in the Districts Social Welfare Services, Malaysia
Authors: S. Brahim, M. S. Mohamad, E. Zakaria, N. Sarnon@Kusenin
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This study aimed to explore the practical experience of child welfare caseworkers and professionalism in child case management in Malaysia. This paper discussed the specific social work practice competency and the challenges faced by child caseworkers in the fieldwork. This research was qualitative with grounded theory approach. Four sessions of focused group discussion (FGD) were conducted involving a total of 27 caseworkers (child protector and probation officers) in the Klang Valley. The study found that the four basic principles of knowledge in child case management namely: 1. knowledge in child case management; 2. professional values of caseworkers towards children; 3. skills in managing cases; and 4. culturally competent practice in child case management. In addition, major challenges faced by the child case manager are the capacity and commitment of the family in children’s rehabilitation program, the credibility of caseworkers are being challenged, and the challenges of support system from intra and interagency. This study is important for policy makers to take into account the capacity and the needs of the child’s caseworker in accordance with the national social work competency framework. It is expected that case management services for children will improve systematically in line with national standards.Keywords: Social work practice, child case management, competency-based knowledge, and professionalism.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 29081677 Analysis of the Effect of HV Transmission Lines on the Control Room and its Proposed Shielding
Authors: Diako Azizi, Hosein Heydari, Ahmad Gholami
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Today with the rapid growth of telecommunications equipment, electronic and developing more and more networks of power, influence of electromagnetic waves on one another has become hot topic discussions. So in this article, this issue and appropriate mechanisms for EMC operations have been presented. First, impact of high voltage lines on the surrounding environment especially on the control room has been investigated, then to reduce electromagnetic radiation, various methods of shielding are provided and shielding effectiveness of them has been compared. It should be expressed that simulations have been done by the finite element method (FEM).
Keywords: Electrical field, EMC, field distribution, finite element method
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14081676 Customer Relationship Management on Social Media Affecting Brand Loyalty of Siam Commercial Bank in Bangkok
Authors: Charawee Butbumrung
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The purpose of this research was to study customer relationship management on social media affecting brand loyalty of Siam Commercial Bank in Bangkok. The statistics used in data analysis were frequency, mean, standard deviation, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient based on social science statistic program. The result of the study found that the majority of the respondents were female, 37–47 years old of age, bachelor degree of education and monthly income between 10,001 and 15,000 Baht. In addition, customer relationship management in the overall and by each aspect of formulating, maintaining, and extending the customer relationship had a high score. Furthermore, the result of hypothesis testing showed that the difference of the customer’s age, education, occupation, average monthly income had the difference in brand loyalty with the statistical significance level of 0.05 and customer relationship management had related with brand loyalty in the same direction with the low level of statistical significance 0.05.Keywords: Brand loyalty, customer relationship, management, Siam Commercial Bank, social media.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11321675 Conflict of the Thai-Malaysian Gas Pipeline Project
Authors: Nopadol Burananuth
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This research was aimed to investigate (1) the relationship among local social movements, non-governmental Organization activities and state measures deployment; and (2) the effects of local social movements, non-governmental Organization activities, and state measures deployment on conflict of local people towards the Thai-Malaysian gas pipeline project. These people included 1,000 residents of the four districts in Songkhla province. The methods of data analysis consist of multiple regression analysis. The results of the analysis showed that: (1) local social movements depended on information, and mass communication; deployment of state measures depended on compromise, coordination, and mass communication; and (2) the conflict of local people depended on mobilization, negotiation, and campaigning for participation of people in the project. Thus, it is recommended that to successfully implement any government policy, consideration must be paid to the conflict of local people, mobilization, negotiation, and campaigning for people’s participation in the project.Keywords: Conflict, NGO activities, social movements, state measures.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 12321674 Toward a Measure of Appropriateness of User Interfaces Adaptations Solutions
Authors: A. Siam, R. Maamri, Z. Sahnoun
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The development of adaptive user interfaces (UI) presents for a long time an important research area in which researcher attempt to call upon the full resources and skills of several disciplines, The adaptive UI community holds a thorough knowledge regarding the adaptation of UIs with users and with contexts of use. Several solutions, models, formalisms, techniques and mechanisms were proposed to develop adaptive UI. In this paper, we propose an approach based on the fuzzy set theory for modeling the concept of the appropriateness of different solutions of UI adaptation with different situations for which interactive systems have to adapt their UIs.Keywords: Adaptive user interfaces, adaptation solution’s appropriateness, fuzzy sets.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19381673 The Role of the Constructivist Learning Theory and Collaborative Learning Environment on Wiki Classroom and the Relationship between Them
Authors: Ibraheem Alzahrani
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This paper seeks to discover the relationship between both the social constructivist learning theory and the collaborative learning environment. This relationship can be identified through given an example of the learning environment. Due to wiki characteristics, wiki can be used to understand the relationship between constructivist learning theory and collaborative learning environment. However, several evidences will come in this paper to support the idea of why wiki is the suitable method to explore the relationship between social constructivist theory and the collaborative learning and their role in learning. Moreover, learning activities in wiki classroom will be discussed in this paper to find out the result of the learners' interaction in the classroom groups, which will be through two types of communication; synchronous and asynchronous.
Keywords: Social constructivist, collaborative, environment, wiki, activities.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 30441672 Analyzing the Potential of Job Creation by Taking the First Step Towards Circular Economy: Case Study of Brazil
Authors: R. Conde
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The Brazilian economic projections and social indicators show a future of crisis for the country. Solutions to avoid this crisis scenario are necessary. Several developed countries implement initiatives linked to sustainability, mainly related to the circular economy, to solve their crises quickly - green recovery. This article aims to assess social gains if Brazil followed the same recovery strategy. Furthermore, with the use of data presented and recognized in the international academic society, the number of jobs that can be created, if Brazil took the first steps towards a more circular economy, was found. Moreover, in addition to the gross value in the number of jobs created, this article also detailed the number of these jobs by type of activity (collection, processing, and manufacturing) and by type of material.
Keywords: Circular economy, green recovery, job creation, social gains.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5411671 Achieving Business and IT Alignment from Organisational Learning Perspectives
Authors: Hamad Hussain Balhareth, Kecheng Liu, Sharm Manwani
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Business and IT alignment has continued as a top concern for business and IT executives for almost three decades. Many researchers have conducted empirical studies on the relationship between business-IT alignment and performance. Yet, these approaches, lacking a social perspective, have had little impact on sustaining performance and competitive advantage. In addition to the limited alignment literature that explores organisational learning that is represented in shared understanding, communication, cognitive maps and experiences. Hence, this paper proposes an integrated process that enables social and intellectual dimensions through the concept of organisational learning. In particular, the feedback and feedforward process which provide a value creation across dynamic multilevel of learning. This mechanism enables on-going effectiveness through development of individuals, groups and organisations, which improves the quality of business and IT strategies and drives to performance.Keywords: business-IT alignment, social dimension, intellectual dimension, organisational learning
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17401670 Inclusive Education of Roma Students from Socially Disadvantaged Background as a Determinant of Their Social Inclusion in the Slovak Republic
Authors: L. Horňák
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The aim of the paper is to analyze a longstanding problem in Slovakia – the effective education of Roma students coming from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. Although it is a relatively small country, there are over 630 communities in the Slovak Republic. The efficiency of the projects was verified by interviews with participants; questionnaires; and direct observations. Evaluation reports which summarized and evaluated the outcomes of the projects only confirmed their success. Slovakia realizes that appropriate social inclusion of marginalized citizens coming from the Roma ethnic group can only be achieved through education based on equality of all students and acceptance of diversity.Keywords: Inclusive education, marginalized communities, Roma student, equality in education, socially disadvantaged backgrounds, social inclusion.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11441669 Pathology of Explanted Transvaginal Meshes
Authors: Vladimir V. Iakovlev, Erin T. Carey, John Steege
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The use of polypropylene mesh devices for Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) spread rapidly during the last decade, yet our knowledge of the mesh-tissue interaction is far from complete. We aimed to perform a thorough pathological examination of explanted POP meshes and describe findings that may explain mechanisms of complications resulting in product excision. We report a spectrum of important findings, including nerve ingrowth, mesh deformation, involvement of detrusor muscle with neural ganglia, and polypropylene degradation. Analysis of these findings may improve and guide future treatment strategies.
Keywords: Transvaginal, mesh, nerves, polypropylene degradation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 40871668 Development and Initial Validation of the Social Competency Inventory for Tertiary Level Faculty Members
Authors: Glenn M. Calaguas, Carmela S. Dizon
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This study aimed to develop and initially validate an instrument that measures social competency among tertiary level faculty members. A review of extant literature on social competence was done. The review of extant literature led to the writing of the items in the initial instrument which was evaluated by 11 Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). The SMEs were either educators or psychologists. The results of the evaluations done by the SMEs served as bases for the creation of the pre-try-out instrument used in the first trial-run. Insights from the first trial-run participants led to the development of the main try-out instrument used in the final test administration. One Hundred Forty-one participants from five private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the National Capital Region (NCR) and five private HEIs in Central Luzon in the Philippines participated in the final test administration. The reliability of the instrument was evaluated using Cronbach-s Coefficient Alpha formula and had a Cronbach-s Alpha of 0.92. On the other hand, Factor Analysis was used to evaluate the validity of the instrument and six factors were identified. The development of the final instrument was based on the results of the evaluation of the instrument-s reliability and validity. For purposes of recognition, the instrument was named “Social Competency Inventory for Tertiary Level Faculty Members (SCI-TLFM)."
Keywords: development, initial validation, social competency, tertiary level faculty members
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21681667 Information Seeking through Assimilation Process in Thai Organization
Authors: Pornprom Chomngam
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The purpose of this study is to examine employee assessments of the usefulness/value of different types of information available to those employees during the process of organizational assimilation. Participants in the study were 247 “new" employees at Bangkok Bank. Bangkok Bank considers employees whose length of stay with the bank has been less than 18 months as new employees. Questionnaires were administered to all of the Bank-s new employees to obtain the data for this study. Repeated measures analysis was used to analyze the data. The data were summed and coded by using Statistical Package for Social Science. Newcomers indicate that social information is the most useful information, followed by job (technical, referent, and appraisal information), political, normative, and organizational information. Essentially, social, job, and political information are evaluated by newcomers as highly useful, while normative and organizational information are rated as moderately useful.
Keywords: Information seeking, organization assimilation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16611666 A Trust Model using Fuzzy Logic in Wireless Sensor Network
Authors: Tae Kyung Kim, Hee Suk Seo
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Adapting various sensor devices to communicate within sensor networks empowers us by providing range of possibilities. The sensors in sensor networks need to know their measurable belief of trust for efficient and safe communication. In this paper, we suggested a trust model using fuzzy logic in sensor network. Trust is an aggregation of consensus given a set of past interaction among sensors. We applied our suggested model to sensor networks in order to show how trust mechanisms are involved in communicating algorithm to choose the proper path from source to destination.Keywords: Fuzzy, Sensor Networks, Trust.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 35551665 Challenges and Opportunities of Utilization of Social Media by Business Education Students in Nigeria Universities
Authors: Titus Amodu Umoru
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Global economy today is full of sophistication. All over the world, business and marketing practices are undergoing unprecedented transformation. In realization of this fact, the federal government of Nigeria has put in place a robust transformation agenda in order to put Nigeria in a better position to be a competitive player and in the process transform all sectors of its economy. New technologies, especially the Internet, are the driving force behind this transformation. However, technology has inadvertently affected the way businesses are done thus necessitating the acquisition of new skills. In developing countries like Nigeria, citizens are still battling with effective application of those technologies. Obviously, students of business education need to acquire relevant business knowledge to be able to transit into the world of work on graduation from school and compete favorably in the labor market. Therefore, effective utilization of social media by both teachers and students can help extensively in empowering students with the needed skills. Social media which is a group of Internet-based applications built on the ideological foundations of Web 2.0, that allow the creation and exchange of user generated content, and if incorporated into the classroom experience may be the needed answer to unemployment and poverty in Nigeria as beneficiaries can easily connect with existing and potential enterprises and customers, engage with them and reinforce mutual business benefits. Challenges and benefits of social media use in education in Nigeria universities were revealed in this study.Keywords: Challenges, opportunities, utilization, social media, business education.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 35931664 Non-Parametric, Unconditional Quantile Estimation of Efficiency in Microfinance Institutions
Authors: Komlan Sedzro
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We apply the non-parametric, unconditional, hyperbolic order-α quantile estimator to appraise the relative efficiency of Microfinance Institutions in Africa in terms of outreach. Our purpose is to verify if these institutions, which must constantly try to strike a compromise between their social role and financial sustainability are operationally efficient. Using data on African MFIs extracted from the Microfinance Information eXchange (MIX) database and covering the 2004 to 2006 periods, we find that more efficient MFIs are also the most profitable. This result is in line with the view that social performance is not in contradiction with the pursuit of excellent financial performance. Our results also show that large MFIs in terms of asset and those charging the highest fees are not necessarily the most efficient.Keywords: Data envelopment analysis, microfinance institutions, quantile estimation of efficiency, social and financial performance.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16781663 Protecting the Privacy and Trust of VIP Users on Social Network Sites
Authors: Nidal F. Shilbayeh, Sameh T. Khuffash, Mohammad H. Allymoun, Reem Al-Saidi
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There is a real threat on the VIPs personal pages on the Social Network Sites (SNS). The real threats to these pages is violation of privacy and theft of identity through creating fake pages that exploit their names and pictures to attract the victims and spread of lies. In this paper, we propose a new secure architecture that improves the trusting and finds an effective solution to reduce fake pages and possibility of recognizing VIP pages on SNS. The proposed architecture works as a third party that is added to Facebook to provide the trust service to personal pages for VIPs. Through this mechanism, it works to ensure the real identity of the applicant through the electronic authentication of personal information by storing this information within content of their website. As a result, the significance of the proposed architecture is that it secures and provides trust to the VIPs personal pages. Furthermore, it can help to discover fake page, protect the privacy, reduce crimes of personality-theft, and increase the sense of trust and satisfaction by friends and admirers in interacting with SNS.
Keywords: Social Network Sites, Online Social Network, Privacy, Trust, Security and Authentication.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 37801662 IVE: Virtual Humans AI Prototyping Toolkit
Authors: Cyril Brom, Zuzana Vlckova
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IVE toolkit has been created for facilitating research,education and development in the ?eld of virtual storytelling andcomputer games. Primarily, the toolkit is intended for modellingaction selection mechanisms of virtual humans, investigating level-of-detail AI techniques for large virtual environments, and for exploringjoint behaviour and role-passing technique (Sec. V). Additionally, thetoolkit can be used as an AI middleware without any changes. Themain facility of IVE is that it serves for prototyping both the AI andvirtual worlds themselves. The purpose of this paper is to describeIVE?s features in general and to present our current work - includingan educational game - on this platform.Keywords? AI middleware, simulation, virtual world.Keywords: AI middleware, simulation, virtual world
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16541661 Averaging Mechanisms to Decision Making for Handover in GSM
Authors: S. Akhila, M. Lakshminarayana
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In cellular networks, limited availability of resources has to be tapped to its fullest potential. In view of this aspect, a sophisticated averaging and voting technique has been discussed in this paper, wherein the radio resources available are utilized to the fullest value by taking into consideration, several network and radio parameters which decide on when the handover has to be made and thereby reducing the load on Base station .The increase in the load on the Base station might be due to several unnecessary handover taking place which can be eliminated by making judicious use of the radio and network parameters.Keywords: Averaging and Voting, Handover, QoS.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 35091660 Gender Mainstreaming in Public Universities in Mexico
Authors: Carlos David Carrillo Trujillo, Rebelín Echeverría Echeverría, Nancy Evia Alamilla, Rocío Quintal López
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Gender as a social construct is a term now widely studied. Within the social sciences it has become very important. In this sense, psychology tries to make some contributions from your area. The intention is to promote equal opportunities for men and women. Social, employment and educational inequities perpetuate sexism, violence and other important social problems in Mexico. The gender perspective is conceptualized as a tool to promote laws, policies, plans, programs and procedures where women are made visible and empowered. The aim of this is the pursuit of equality. Thus, gender mainstreaming is one of the main challenges of education in Mexico. Only a few universities have programs, research or subjects related to the topic. Human resources, and time allocated to teachers are identified as obstacles to the institutionalization of gender. The objective was to make a diagnosis on course offerings and policies on gender. A documentary study and interviews with managers of at least 20 higher education institutions (IES's) were performed. The results indicate the need for greater gender courses, research projects and intervention. The need to promote policies that seek equal opportunities between men and women is also noted.
Keywords: Gender mainstreaming, institutionalization, universities.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11261659 An Analysis of Institutional Environments on Corporate Social Responsibility Practices in Nigerian Renewable Energy Firms
Authors: Bolanle Deborah Motilewa, E. K. Rowland Worlu, Gbenga Mayowa Agboola, Ayodele Maxwell Olokundun
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Several studies have proposed a one-size fit all approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices, such that CSR as it applies to developed countries is adapted to developing countries, ignoring the differing institutional environments (such as the regulative, economic, social and political environments), which affects the profitability and practices of businesses operating in them. CSR as it applies to filling institutional gaps in developing countries, was categorized into four themes: environmental protection, product and service innovation, social innovation and local cluster development. Based on the four themes, the study employed a qualitative research approach through the use of interviews and review of available publications to study the influence of institutional environments on CSR practices engaged in by three renewable energy firms operating in Nigeria. Over the course of three 60-minutes sessions with the top management and selected workers of the firms, four propositions were made: regulatory environment influences environmental protection practice of Nigerian renewable firms, economic environment influences product and service innovation practice of Nigerian renewable energy firms, the social environment impacts on social innovation in Nigerian renewable energy firms, and political environment affects local cluster development practice of Nigerian renewable energy firms. It was also observed that beyond institutional environments, the international exposure of an organization’s managers reflected in their approach to CSR. This finding on the influence of international exposure on CSR practices creates an area for further study. Insights from this paper are set to help policy makers in developing countries, CSR managers, and future researchers.Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, institutional environment, renewable energy firms, developing countries, international exposure.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14291658 Physical Parameters for Reliability Evaluation
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This paper presents ageing experiments controlled by the evolution of junction parameters. The deterioration of the device is related to high injection effects which modified the transport mechanisms in the space charge region of the junction. Physical phenomena linked to the degradation of junction parameters that affect the devices reliability are reported and discussed. We have used the method based on numerical analysis of experimental current-voltage characteristic of the junction, in order to extract the electrical parameters. The simultaneous follow-up of the evolutions of the series resistance and of the transition voltage allow us to introduce a new parameter for reliability evaluation.
Keywords: High injection, junction, parameters, reliability
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13801657 Development of a Harvest Mechanism for the Kahramanmaraş Chili Pepper
Authors: O. E. Akay, E. Güzel, M. T. Özcan
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The pepper has quite a rich variety. The development of a single harvesting machine for all kinds of peppers is a difficult research topic. By development of harvesting mechanisms, we could be able to facilitate the pepper harvesting problems. In this study, an experimental harvesting machine was designed for chili pepper. Four-bar mechanism was used for the design of the prototype harvesting machine. At the result of harvest trials, 80% of peppers were harvested and 8% foreign materials were collected. These results have provided some tips on how to apply to large-scale pepper Four-bar mechanism of the harvest machine.Keywords: Kinematic simulation, four bar linkage, harvest mechanization, pepper harvest.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22001656 Creating Shared Value: A Paradigm Shift from Corporate Social Responsibility to Creating Shared Value
Authors: Bolanle Deborah Motilewa, E.K. Rowland Worlu, Gbenga Mayowa Agboola, Marvellous Aghogho Chidinma Gberevbie
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Businesses operating in the modern business world are faced with varying challenges; amongst which is the need to ensure that they are performing their societal function of being responsible in the society in which they operate. This responsibility to society is generally termed as corporate social responsibility. For many years, the practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR) was solely philanthropic, where organizations gave ‘charity’ or ‘alms’ to society, without any link to the organization’s mission and objectives. However, there has arisen a shift in the application of CSR from an act of philanthropy to a strategy with a business model engaged in by organizations to create a win-win situation of performing their societal obligation, whilst simultaneously performing their economic obligation. In more recent times, the term has moved from CSR to creating shared value, which is simply corporate policies and practices that enhance the competitiveness of a business organization while simultaneously advancing social and economic conditions in the communities in which the company operates. Creating shared value has in more recent light found more meaning in underdeveloped countries, faced with deep societal challenges that businesses can solve whilst creating economic value. This study thus reviews literature on CSR, conceptualizing the shift to creating shared value and finally viewing its potential significance in Africa’s development.Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, shared value, Africapitalism.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 25081655 Facebook Spam and Spam Filter Using Artificial Neural Networks
Authors: Fahim A., Mutahira N. Naseem
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Spam is any unwanted electronic message or material in any form posted too many people. As the world is growing as global world, social networking sites play an important role in making world global providing people from different parts of the world a platform to meet and express their views. Among different social networking sites Facebook become the leading one. With increase in usage different users start abusive use of Facebook by posting or creating ways to post spam. This paper highlights the potential spam types nowadays Facebook users’ faces. This paper also provide the reason how user become victim to spam attack. A methodology is proposed in the end discusses how to handle different types of spam.
Keywords: Artificial neural networks, Facebook spam, social networking sites, spam filter.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 31381654 Miniature Fast Steering Mirrors for Space Optical Communication on NanoSats and CubeSats
Authors: Sylvain Chardon, Timotéo Payre, Hugo Grardel, Yann Quentel, Mathieu Thomachot, Gérald Aigouy, Frank Claeyssen
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With the increasing digitalization of society, access to data has become vital and strategic for individuals and nations. In this context, the number of satellite constellation projects is growing drastically worldwide and is a next-generation challenge of the New Space industry. So far, existing satellite constellations have been using radio frequencies (RF) for satellite-to-ground communications, inter-satellite communications, and feeder link communication. However, RF has several limitations, such as limited bandwidth and low protection level. To address these limitations, space optical communication will be the new trend, addressing both very high-speed and secured encrypted communication. Fast Steering Mirrors (FSM) are key components used in optical communication as well as space imagery and for a large field of functions such as Point Ahead Mechanisms (PAM), Raster Scanning, Beam Steering Mirrors (BSM), Fine Pointing Mechanisms (FPM) and Line of Sight stabilization (LOS). The main challenges of space FSM development for optical communication are to propose both a technology and a supply chain relevant for high quantities New Space approach, which requires secured connectivity for high-speed internet, Earth planet observation and monitoring, and mobility applications. CTEC proposes a mini-FSM technology offering a stroke of +/-6 mrad and a resonant frequency of 1700 Hz, with a mass of 50 g. This FSM mechanism is a good candidate for giant constellations and all applications on board NanoSats and CubeSats, featuring a very high level of miniaturization and optimized for New Space high quantities cost efficiency. The use of piezo actuators offers a high resonance frequency for optimal control, with almost zero power consumption in step and stay pointing, and with very high-reliability figures > 0,995 demonstrated over years of recurrent manufacturing for Optronics applications at CTEC.
Keywords: Fast steering mirror, feeder link, line of sight stabilization, optical communication, pointing ahead mechanism, raster scan.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 178