Search results for: Perceived Life meaningfulness

Authors: R. Bužgová, R. Kozáková, M. Škutová, M. Bar, P. Ressner, P. Bártová

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Introduction: Currently, there has been an increasing concern about the provision of palliative care in non-oncological patients in both professional literature and clinical practice. However, there is not much scientific information on how to provide neurological and palliative care together. The main objective of the project is to create and to verify a concept of neuro-palliative and rehabilitative care for patients with selected neurological diseases in an advanced stage of the disease and also to evaluate bio-psychosocial and spiritual needs of these patients and their caregivers related to the quality of life using created standardized tools. Methodology: Triangulation of research methods (qualitative and quantitative) will be used. A concept of care and assessment tools will be developed by analyzing interviews and focus groups. Qualitative data will be analyzed using grounded theory. The concept of care will be tested in the context of the intervention study. Using quantitative analysis, we will assess the effect of an intervention provided on the saturation of needs, quality of life, and quality of care. A research sample will be made up of the patients with selected neurological diseases (Parkinson´s syndrome, motor neuron disease, multiple sclerosis, Huntington’s disease), together with patients´ family members. Based on the results, educational materials and a certified course for health care professionals will be created. Findings: Based on qualitative data analysis, we will propose the concept of integrated care model combining neurological, rehabilitative and specialist palliative care for patients with selected neurological diseases in different settings of care and services. Patients´ needs related to quality of life will be described by newly created and validated measuring tools before the start of intervention (application of neuro-palliative and palliative approach) and then in the time interval. Conclusion: Based on the results, educational materials and a certified course for doctors and health care professionals will be created.

Keywords: Multidisciplinary approach, neuropalliative care, research, quality of life.

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Authors: Mario Spremić

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Despite the financial crisis and ongoing need for cost cutting, companies all around the world heavily invest in Information Systems (IS) and underlying Information Technology (IT). Proliferation of governance of enterprise IT helps companies manage, or rather, governs IS as a primary business function with executive management involved in making decision about IS and IT. The business value of IT is raising with the involvement of the executive management in IT decision making process and quality IT governance mechanisms in place. In this paper the practice of governing the enterprise IT will be investigated on a sample of the largest 100 Croatian companies. Research questions posed here will reveal if there are some formal IT governance mechanisms, are there any differences in perceived role of IS and IT between CIOs (Chief Information Officers) and CEOs (Chief Executive Officers) of the sampled companies and what are the mechanisms to govern massive investment in enterprise IT.

Keywords: IT governance, governance of enterprise IT, information system auditing, IT maturity.

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Authors: D. Hassell, D. De Focatiis

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This paper presents work on the application of wiki based coursework for a fourth-year engineering module delivered as part of both a MEng and MSc programme in Chemical Engineering. The module was taught with an equivalent structure simultaneously on two separate campuses, one in the United Kingdom (UK) and one in Malaysia, and the subsequent results were compared. Student feedback was sought via questionnaires, with 45 respondents from the UK and 49 from Malaysia. Results include discussion on; perceived difficulty; student enjoyment and experiences; differences between MEng and MSc students; differences between cohorts on different campuses. The response of students to the use of wiki-based coursework was found to vary based on their experiences and background, with UK students being generally more positive on its application than those in Malaysia.

Keywords: Engineering education, student differences, student learning, web-based coursework.

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Authors: Ahlem Fatnassi, Hamza Gharsellaoui, Sadok Bouamama

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This paper deals with the study of interest in the fields of Steganography and Steganalysis. Steganography involves hiding information in a cover media to obtain the stego media in such a way that the cover media is perceived not to have any embedded message for its unintended recipients. Steganalysis is the mechanism of detecting the presence of hidden information in the stego media and it can lead to the prevention of disastrous security incidents. In this paper, we provide a critical review of the steganalysis algorithms available to analyze the characteristics of an image stego media against the corresponding cover media and understand the process of embedding the information and its detection. We anticipate that this paper can also give a clear picture of the current trends in steganography so that we can develop and improvise appropriate steganalysis algorithms.

Keywords: Optimization, heuristics and metaheuristics algorithms, embedded systems, low-power consumption, Steganalysis Heuristic approach.

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Authors: Robert H. Crawford, André Stephan

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Certifications such as the Passive House Standard aim to reduce the final space heating energy demand of residential buildings. Space conditioning, notably heating, is responsible for nearly 70% of final residential energy consumption in Europe. There is therefore significant scope for the reduction of energy consumption through improvements to the energy efficiency of residential buildings. However, these certifications totally overlook the energy embodied in the building materials used to achieve this greater operational energy efficiency. The large amount of insulation and the triple-glazed high efficiency windows require a significant amount of energy to manufacture. While some previous studies have assessed the life cycle energy demand of passive houses, including their embodied energy, these rely on incomplete assessment techniques which greatly underestimate embodied energy and can lead to misleading conclusions. This paper analyses the embodied and operational energy demands of a case study passive house using a comprehensive hybrid analysis technique to quantify embodied energy. Results show that the embodied energy is much more significant than previously thought. Also, compared to a standard house with the same geometry, structure, finishes and number of people, a passive house can use more energy over 80 years, mainly due to the additional materials required. Current building energy efficiency certifications should widen their system boundaries to include embodied energy in order to reduce the life cycle energy demand of residential buildings.

Keywords: Embodied energy, Hybrid analysis, Life cycle energy analysis, Passive house.

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Authors: G. Reinhart, S. Schindler

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Due to dynamic evolution, the ability of a manufacturing technology to produce a special product is changing. Therefore, it is essential to monitor the established techniques and processes to detect whether a company-s production will fit future circumstances. Concerning the manufacturing technology planning process, companies must decide when to change to a new technology for maintaining and increasing competitive advantages. In this context, the maturity assessment of the focused technologies is crucial. This article presents an approach for defining the maturity of a manufacturing technology from a strategic point of view. The concept is based on the approach of technology readiness level (TRL) according to NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), but also includes dynamic changes. Therefore, the model takes into account the concept of the technology life cycle. Furthermore, it enables a company to estimate the ideal date for implementation of a new manufacturing technology.

Keywords: Maturity Assessment, Manufacturing Technology Planning, Technology Life Cycle, Technology Readiness Level.

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Authors: Maryam Azizkhani, Parvin Zandi

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Application of synthetic antioxidants such as tertbutylhydroquinon (TBHQ), in spite of their efficiency, is questioned because of their possible carcinogenic effect. The purpose of this study was application of mixtures of natural antioxidants that provide the best oxidative stability for margarine. Antioxidant treatments included 10 various mixtures (F1- F10) containing 100-500ppm tocopherol mixture (Toc), 100-200ppm ascorbyl palmitate (AP), 100- 200ppm rosemary extract (Ros) and 1000ppm lecithin(Lec) along with a control or F0 (with no antioxidant) and F11 with 120ppm TBHQ. The effect of antioxidant mixtures on the stability of margarine samples during oven test (60°C), rancimat test at 110°C and storage at 4°C was evaluated. Final ranking of natural antioxidant mixtures was as follows: F2,F10>F5,F9>F8>F1,F3,F4>F6, F7. Considering the results of this research and ranking criteria, F2(200ppmAp + 200ppmRos) and F10(200ppmRos + 200ppmToc +1000ppmLec) were recommended as substitutes for TBHQ to maintain the quality and increase the shelf-life of margarine.

Keywords: Margarine, Natural antioxidant, Oxidative stability, Shelf-life.

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Authors: W. Permchart, S. Tanatvanit

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This paper presents the results of the experimental tests of the cooling performance of a 12,000-Btu/h modified air conditioner (referred to as M-AC) that use the ground as a heat sink of a condenser. In the tests, cooling capacity of M-AC with an optimal length of a condensing coil as well as life expectancy of copper coil buried underground were investigated. The lengths of copper coil fabricated and used as condenser coil of M-AC were set at 67, 50, 40 and 30 m whereas that of a 12,000-Btu/h conventional split-type air conditioner (referred to as C-AC) was about 22 m. The results showed that the ground can absorb heat rejected from a condenser of M-AC. The coefficient of performance (COP) of C-AC was about 2.5 whereas those of M-AC were found to be higher. It was found that the values of COP of M-AC with condensing coils of 67, 50 and 40 m long were about 6.9, 5.5 and 3.3, respectively, while that of 30-m-long one was found to be about 2.1. The electrical consumptions of M-AC were found lower than that of C-AC in the range of 11.5 – 15.5%. Additionally, life expectancy of underground condensing coil of M-AC was found to be over 7 years.

Keywords: Air conditioner, condenser, copper coil, ground.

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Authors: Nada Azhar

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This paper is drawn from a wider study of the management of gender, age and disability diversity in the banking sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), which aims to develop a framework for diversity management (DM) in this sector. The paper focuses on the management of disability diversity. The purpose of the paper is to assist in understanding disability DM in the banking sector in KSA and to make suggestions for its enhancement. Hence, it contributes to filling a research gap, as there is a dearth of literature on disability DM, in KSA in general, and in the banking sector specifically. Discrimination against people with disabilities is a social issue that has not been entirely overcome in any society. However, in KSA, Islam informs almost every aspect of daily life including work, and Islam is against discrimination. Hence, in KSA, there are regulations to accommodate people with disabilities; however, employers are still free not to hire job applicants with disabilities specifically because of their condition. Indeed, disabled people are almost entirely absent from the labour market. There are 12 Saudi-owned or part-Saudi-owned banks in KSA and two managers from each of these were interviewed, making a total of 24. The interviews aimed to investigate empirically the understanding of managers in the banking sector in KSA of diversity management, including disability DM, in the banking sector. The interview data were analysed using thematic analysis. Two interviewees stated that banks used the employment of people with disabilities to enhance their corporate image, while five expressed the opinion that disabled employees could contribute to the bank provided they did not have to deal with customers face-to-face. Nine of the interviewees perceived that disabled employees could be of value to the bank for their own sake, not only in ‘behind the scenes’ roles. Another two interviewees mentioned that employing disabled people could be part of the bank’s community service programme and one thought it would be part of the bank’s Saudisation efforts. The remaining five interviewees did not know how disabled people could contribute to the bank. The findings show that disability DM in the banking sector in KSA is a relatively new concept, and is not yet well understood. In the light of the findings, in order to achieve the purpose of the paper, the following suggestions were made for the enhancement of disability DM in the banking sector in KSA. A change in attitudes towards disabled people is necessary. Such a change in the workplace can only be achieved if a top-down approach is taken to the integration of disabled people. Hence, it is suggested that management and employees follow a course in disability awareness. Further, a diversity officer in the HR department could enhance the integration of disabled people into the banking workforce. It is also suggested that greater government support is required through closely monitored and enforced anti-discrimination legislation. Moreover, flexible working arrangements such as part-time work would facilitate the employment of disabled people and benefit other groups of employees.

Keywords: Banking, disability, diversity management, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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Authors: M. Benachour, N. Benachour, M. Benguediab, A. Hadjoui

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The knowledge of the nature of loading is very important in order to hold account on the total behavior such as vibration, shock, fatigue, etc. Fatigue present 90% of failure when loadings fatigues are very complex. In this paper a study of double through crack at hole for plate subjected to fatigue loading is presented. Various modes loading are studied where the applied load is the same one. The fatigue life is given where the effect of stress ratio is highlighted. This work is conducted on aluminum alloy 2024 T351 used for much aerospace and aeronautics applications. The fatigue crack growth behavior with constant amplitude is studied using the AFGROW code when Forman model is applied. The fatigue crack growth rate and fatigue life for different loading modes are compared with variation of others geometrical parameter such as thickness and dimensions of notch hole.

Keywords: Fatigue crack, mode loading, aluminum alloy

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Authors: Meysam Naeimi, Zili Li, Roumen Petrov, Rolf Dollevoet, Jilt Sietsma, Jun Wu

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The substantial similarity of fatigue mechanism in a new test rig for rolling contact fatigue (RCF) has been investigated. A new reduced-scale test rig is designed to perform controlled RCF tests in wheel-rail materials. The fatigue mechanism of the rig is evaluated in this study using a combined finite element-fatigue prediction approach. The influences of loading conditions on fatigue crack initiation have been studied. Furthermore, the effects of some artificial defects (squat-shape) on fatigue lives are examined. To simulate the vehicle-track interaction by means of the test rig, a threedimensional finite element (FE) model is built up. The nonlinear material behaviour of the rail steel is modelled in the contact interface. The results of FE simulations are combined with the critical plane concept to determine the material points with the greatest possibility of fatigue failure. Based on the stress-strain responses, by employing of previously postulated criteria for fatigue crack initiation (plastic shakedown and ratchetting), fatigue life analysis is carried out. The results are reported for various loading conditions and different defect sizes. Afterward, the cyclic mechanism of the test rig is evaluated from the operational viewpoint. The results of fatigue life predictions are compared with the expected number of cycles of the test rig by its cyclic nature. Finally, the estimative duration of the experiments until fatigue crack initiation is roughly determined.

Keywords: Fatigue, test rig, crack initiation, life, rail, squats.

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Authors: S. M. Amin Hosseini, Oriol Pons, Albert de la Fuente

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After natural disasters, displaced people (DP) require important numbers of housing units, which have to be erected quickly due to emergency pressures. These tight timeframes can cause the multiplication of the environmental construction impacts. These negative impacts worsen the already high energy consumption and pollution caused by the building sector. Indeed, post-disaster housing, which is often carried out without pre-planning, usually causes high negative environmental impacts, besides other economic and social impacts. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a suitable strategy to deal with this problem which also takes into account the instability of its causes, like changing ratio between rural and urban population. To this end, this study aims to present a model that assists decision-makers to choose the most suitable building technology for post-disaster housing units. This model focuses on the alternatives sustainability and fulfillment of the stakeholders’ satisfactions. Four building technologies have been analyzed to determine the most sustainability technology and to validate the presented model. In 2003, Bam earthquake DP had their temporary housing units (THUs) built using these four technologies: autoclaved aerated concrete blocks (AAC), concrete masonry unit (CMU), pressed reeds panel (PR), and 3D sandwich panel (3D). The results of this analysis confirm that PR and CMU obtain the highest sustainability indexes. However, the second life scenario of THUs could have considerable impacts on the results.

Keywords: Sustainability, post-disaster temporary housing, integrated value model for sustainability assessment (MIVES), life cycle assessment (LCA).

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Authors: M. Karbakhsh, M. Shamseddini Motlagh, M. Khansari

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The purpose of this research was to demonstrate prevalence of post-exposure preventive measures (PEP) after needlestick injuries and its relationship with locus of control beliefs in a sample of medical students. In this cross-sectional study, 300 medical students with history of having experienced needle stick injuries (NSI) for at least once filled in a questionnaire to determine if they perceived themselves to be responsible and effective in preventing blood born infections after NSI. About 38% of students did not seek any professional consult or PEP after NSI due to lack of enough time or access, anxiety about tests results, belief in uselessness of followup and not being able to change destiny. These 114 students were not different from others regarding their scores on NSI specific scale of locus of health control. Thus, the potentiality of NSI locus of control beliefs in predicting PEP was not seen in this study.

Keywords: health care workers, locus of health control, needle stick injuries, post-exposure prevention.

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Authors: Linda, Sau-ling Lai

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This paper provides new ways to explore the old problem of failure of information systems development in an organisation. Based on the theory of cognitive dissonance, information systems (IS) failure is defined as a gap between what the users expect from an information system and how well these expectations are met by the perceived performance of the delivered system. Bridging the expectation-perception gap requires that IS professionals make a radical change from being the proprietor of information systems and products to being service providers. In order to deliver systems and services that IS users perceive as valuable, IS people must become expert in determining and assessing users- expectations and perceptions. It is also suggested that the IS community, in general, has given relatively little attention to the front-end process of requirements specification for IS development. There is a simplistic belief that requirements are obtainable from users, they are then translatable into a formal specification. The process of information needs analysis is problematic and worthy of investigation.

Keywords: Information Systems Development, Cognitive Dissonance, Expectation-Perception Gap, Requirements Analysis.

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Authors: Karakulov Y., Baizakova K.

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Kazakhstan attaches the great importance to cooperation with European countries within the framework of multilateral security organizations such as NATO. Cooperation of Kazakhstan with the NATO is a prominent aspect of strengthening of regional security of republic. It covers a wide spectrum of areas, such as reform of sector of defense and security, military operative compatibility of armed forces of NATO member-countries and Kazakhstan, civil emergency planning and scientific cooperation. The cooperation between Kazakhstan and NATO is based on the mutual interests of neighboring republics in the region so that the existing forms of cooperation between Kazakhstan and NATO will not be negatively perceived both in Asia as well as among CIS countries. Kazakhstan tailors its participation in the PfP programme through an annual Individual Partnership Programme, selecting those activities that will help achieve the goals it has set in the IPAP. Level of cooperation within the limits of PfP essentially differs on each republic. Cooperation with Kazakhstan progressed most of all since has been signed IPAP from the NATO

Keywords: Central Asia, Kazakhstan, NATO cooperation, regional security

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Authors: K. Prakash Vel, Lif Miriam Hamouda

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Consumer behaviour analysis represents an important field of study in marketing. Particularly strategy development for marketing and communications will be more focused and effective when marketers have an understanding of the motivations, behaviour and psychology of consumers. While materialism has been found to be one of the important elements in consumer behaviour, compulsive consumption represents another aspect that has recently attracted more attention. This is because of the growing prevalence of dysfunctional buying that has raised concern in consumer societies. Present studies and analyses on origins and motivations of compulsive buying have mainly focused on either individual factors or groups of related factors and hence a need for a holistic view exists. This paper provides a comprehensive perspective on compulsive consumption and establishes relevant propositions keeping the family life cycle stages as a reference for the incidence of chronic consumer states and their influence on compulsive consumption.

Keywords: Chronic consumer states, compulsive consumption, family life cycle

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Authors: Sungnam Hong, Sun-Kyu Park, Jieun Jeong, Jinwoong Choi

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In this study, a new procedure for inspecting damages on LNG storage tanks was proposed with the use of structural diagnostic techniques: i.e., nondestructive inspection techniques such as macrography, the hammer sounding test, the Schmidt hammer test, and the ultrasonic pulse velocity test, and destructive inspection techniques such as the compressive strength test, the chloride penetration test, and the carbonation test. From the analysis of all the test results, it was concluded that the LNG storage tank cover was in good condition. Such results were also compared with the Korean concrete standard specifications and design values. In addition, the remaining life of the LNG storage tank was estimated by using existing models. Based on the results, an LNG storage tank cover performance evaluation procedure was suggested.

Keywords: Destructive test, LNG storage tank, Nondestructive test, Performance evaluation procedure, Remaining life.

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Authors: Katarzyna Czubak

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The aim of this paper is description of the notion of the death for prisoners and the ways of deal with. They express indifference, coldness, inability to accept the blame, they have no shame and no empathy. Is it enough to perform acts verging on the death. In this paper we described mechanisms and regularities of selfdestructive behaviour in the view of the relevant literature? The explanation of the phenomenon is of a biological and sociopsychological nature. It must be clearly stated that all forms of selfdestructive behaviour result from various impulses, conflicts and deficits. That is why they should be treated differently in terms of motivation and functions which they perform in a given group of people. Behind self-destruction there seems to be a motivational mechanism which forces prisoners to rebel and fight against the hated law and penitentiary systems. The imprisoned believe that pain and suffering inflicted on them by themselves are better than passive acceptance of repression. The variety of self-destruction acts is wide, and some of them take strange forms. We assume that a life-death barrier is a kind of game for them. If they cannot change the degrading situation, their life loses sense.

Keywords: Self- destruction, Simulation, Negative emotions, Consequences of conviction.

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Authors: Amir Hossein Davami, Ali Gholami, Ebrahim Panahpour

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Although, it is a long time that human know about the importance of environment in life, but at the last decade of 20 century, the space that was full of hot scientific, collegial and political were made in environmental challenge, So much that, this problem not only disarrange the peace and security of life, but also it has threatened human existence. One of the problems in last years that are significant for authorities is unsatisfactory achieved results against of using huge cost for magnificent environmental projects. This subject leads thinker to this thought that for solving the environmental problems it is needed new methods include of sociology, ethics and philosophic, etc. methods apart of technical affairs. Environment ethics is a new branch of philosophic ethics discussion that discusses about the ethics relationship between humans and universe that is around them. By notifying to the above considered affairs, in today world, necessity of environmental ethics for environment management is reduplicated. In the following the article has been focused on environmental ethics role and environmental management methods and techniques for developing it.

Keywords: Environmental ethics and philosophy, Environmental challenges, Management techniques, Ethical values.

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Authors: Arunroong Wongkungwan

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This study aimed to investigate the influence of selected antecedents, which were tourists’ satisfaction towards attractions in Bangkok, perceived value of the attractions, feelings of engagement with the attractions, acquaintance with the attractions, push factors, pull factors and motivation to seek novelty, on foreign tourist’s loyalty towards tourist attractions in Bangkok. By using multi stage sampling technique, 400 international tourists were sampled. After that, Semi Structural Equation Model was utilized in the analysis stage by LISREL. The Semi Structural Equation Model of the selected antecedents of tourist’s loyalty attractions had a correlation with the empirical data through the following statistical descriptions: Chi- square = 3.43, df = 4, P- value = 0.48893; RMSEA = 0.000; CFI = 1.00; CN = 1539.75; RMR = 0.0022; GFI = 1.00 and AGFI = 0.98. The findings indicated that all antecedents were able together to predict the loyalty of the foreign tourists who visited Bangkok at 73 percent.

Keywords: Antecedents, Loyalty, Foreign Tourists, Tourist Attractions, Bangkok.

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Authors: Jasmine Yeap Ai Leen, T. Ramayah, Azizah Omar

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E-tailing websites are often perceived to be static, impersonal and distant. However, with the movement of the World Wide Web to Web 2.0 in recent years, these online websites have been found to display personalities akin to 'humanistic' qualities and project impressions much like its retailing counterpart i.e. salespeople. This paper examines the personality of e-tailing websites and their impact on consumers- initial trust towards the sites. A total of 239 Internet users participated in this field experiment study which utilized 6 online book retailers- websites that the participants had not previously visited before. Analysis revealed that out of four website personalities (sincerity, competence, excitement and sophistication) only sincerity and competence are able to exert an influence in building consumers- trust upon their first visit to the website. The implications of the findings are further elaborated in this paper.

Keywords: E-commerce, e-tailing, initial trust, online trust, partial least squares, website personality.

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Authors: Pawit Monkolprasit, Proud Arunrangsiwed

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It was important to understand the impact of media in young adolescents. The animated film, Khun Tong Dang the Inspirations (2015), was purposefully created for teaching young children to have a positive personal trait. The current study used this film as the case study. The objective is to understand the relationship between the good characteristic of movie audiences and their perception of the good characteristic of a movie character. One-hundred students from various age ranges responded to quantitative questionnaires. The questions included their age, gender, perception about their own personal traits, perception about their experiences with others, and perception about the bravery, intelligence, and gratefulness of the character. It was found that a good personal trait has a strong relationship with the perception of bravery, intelligence, and gratefulness of the character.

Keywords: Impact of media, children, personal trait, prosocial content.

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Authors: Pawit Tangviroon, Apichit Svang-Ariyaskul

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As the limited availability of petroleum-based fuel has been a major concern, biodiesel is one of the most attractive alternative fuels because it is renewable and it also has advantages over the conventional petroleum-base diesel. At Present, productions of biodiesel generally perform by transesterification of vegetable oils with low molecular weight alcohol, mainly methanol, using chemical catalysts. Methanol is petrochemical product that makes biodiesel producing from methanol to be not pure renewable energy source. Therefore, ethanol as a product produced by fermentation processes. It appears as a potential feed stock that makes biodiesel to be pure renewable alternative fuel. The research is conducted based on two biodiesel production processes by reacting soybean oils with methanol and ethanol. Life cycle assessment was carried out in order to evaluate the environmental impacts and to identify the process alternative. Nine mid-point impact categories are investigated. The results indicate that better performance on abiotic depletion potential (ADP) and acidification potential (AP) are observed in biodiesel production from methanol when compared with biodiesel production from ethanol due to less energy consumption during the production processes. Except for ADP and AP, using methanol as feed stock does not show any advantages over biodiesel from ethanol. The single score method is also included in this study in order to identify the best option between two processes of biodiesel production. The global normalization and weighting factor based on ecotaxes are used and it shows that producing biodiesel form ethanol has less environmental load compare to biodiesel from methanol.

Keywords: Biodiesel, Ethanol, Life Cycle Assessment, Methanol, Soybean Oil.

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Authors: Lee Woong-Kyu

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Fierce competition in smartphone market may encourage users to switch brands when buying a new smartphone. However, many smartphone users continue to use the same brand although other branded smartphones are perceived to be more attractive. The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze the effects of brand loyalty toward incumbent smartphone on new smartphone adoption. For this purpose, a research model including two hypotheses, the positive effect on rational judgments and the negative effect on rational judgments, are proposed based on the dual process theory. For the validation of the research model, the data was collected by surveying Korean university students and tested by the group comparison between high and low brand loyalty. The results show that the two hypotheses were statistically supported.

Keywords: Brand loyalty, dual process theory, incumbent smartphone, smartphone adoption.

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Authors: J. Lam, R. Chan

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The adoption of e-learning in Hong Kong has been increasing rapidly in the past decade. To understand the e-learning experiences of the students, the School of Professional and Continuing Education of The University of Hong Kong conducted a survey. The survey aimed to collect students- experiences in using learning management system, their perceived e-learning advantages, barriers in e-learning and preferences in new e-learning development. A questionnaire with 84 questions was distributed in mid 2012 and 608 valid responds were received. The analysis results showed that the students found e-learning helpful to their study. They preferred interactive functions and mobile features. Blended learning mode, both face-to-face learning mode integrated with online learning and face-to-face learning mode supplemented with online resources, were preferred by the students. The results of experiences of Hong Kong students in e-learning provided a contemporary reference to the e-learning practitioners to understand the e-learning situation in Asia.

Keywords: E-learning, blended learning, learning experience, learning management system.

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Authors: Surita Maini

Abstract:

There are many perceived advantages of microwave ablation have driven researchers to develop innovative antennas to effectively treat deep-seated, non-resectable hepatic tumors. In this paper a coaxial antenna with a miniaturized sleeve choke has been discussed for microwave interstitial ablation therapy, in order to reduce backward heating effects irrespective of the insertion depth into the tissue. Two dimensional Finite Element Method (FEM) is used to simulate and measure the results of miniaturized sleeve choke antenna. This paper emphasizes the importance of factors that can affect simulation accuracy, which include mesh resolution, surface heating and reflection coefficient. Quarter wavelength choke effectiveness has been discussed by comparing it with the unchoked antenna with same dimensions.

Keywords: Microwave ablation, tumor, Finite Element Method, Coaxial slot antenna, Coaxial dipole antenna.

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Authors: Mojtaba Mahmoodian, Joshua Phelan, Mehdi Shahparvari

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With a large percentage of countries’ total infrastructure expenditure attributed to water network maintenance, it is essential to optimise maintenance strategies to rehabilitate or replace underground pipes before failure occurs. The aim of this paper is to provide water utility managers with a maintenance management approach for underground water pipes, subject to external loading and material corrosion, to give the lowest life cycle cost over a predetermined time period. This reliability-based maintenance management methodology details the optimal years for intervention, the ideal number of maintenance activities to perform before replacement and specifies feasible renewal options and intervention prioritisation to minimise the life cycle cost. The study was then extended to include feasible renewal methods by determining the structural condition index and potential for soil loss, then obtaining the failure impact rating to assist in prioritising pipe replacement. A case study on optimisation of maintenance plans for the Melbourne water pipe network is considered in this paper to evaluate the practicality of the proposed methodology. The results confirm that the suggested methodology can provide water utility managers with a reliable systematic approach to determining optimum maintenance plans for pipe networks.

Keywords: Water pipe networks, maintenance management, reliability analysis, optimum maintenance plan.

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Authors: Khin Thandar Lwin, Than Htike, Zaw Min Naing

Abstract:

This paper introduces an intelligent system, which can be applied in the monitoring of vehicle speed using a single camera. The ability of motion tracking is extremely useful in many automation problems and the solution to this problem will open up many future applications. One of the most common problems in our daily life is the speed detection of vehicles on a highway. In this paper, a novel technique is developed to track multiple moving objects with their speeds being estimated using a sequence of video frames. Field test has been conducted to capture real-life data and the processed results were presented. Multiple object problems and noisy in data are also considered. Implementing this system in real-time is straightforward. The proposal can accurately evaluate the position and the orientation of moving objects in real-time. The transformations and calibration between the 2D image and the actual road are also considered.

Keywords: Motion Estimation, Image Analyses, Speed Detection

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Authors: Hélder Spínola

Abstract:

Sustainable development is highly dependent on the implementation of environmental education programs, which has as its ultimate goal to produce environmentally literate citizens that undertake environmentally friendly actions. Efforts on environmental education along past years are now perceived on the increase of citizens awareness on European countries and, particularly, in Portugal. However, we still have a lack of information on the prevalence of specific behaviors that contributes to sustainability, influenced by a new attitude toward the environment. The determination of pro-environmental behaviors prevalence in higher education students is an important approach to understand to which extend the next leading generation is, in practice, committed with the goals of sustainable development. Therefore, present study evaluates the prevalence of a specific set of behaviors (water savings, energy savings, environmental criteria on shopping, and mobility) on the University of Madeira students and discusses their commitment with sustainable development.

Keywords: Pro-environmental behaviors, sustainable development, environmental education, higher education students

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Authors: Inna R. Edara, Haw-Lin Wu

Abstract:

Positive psychology investigates human strengths and virtues and promotes well-being. Relying on this assumption, positive interventions have been continuously designed to build pleasure and happiness, joy and contentment, engagement and meaning, hope and optimism, satisfaction and gratitude, spirituality, and various other positive measures of well-being. In line with this model of positive psychology and interventions, this study investigated certain measures of well-being in a group of 45 students enrolled in an 18-week positive psychology course and simultaneously engaged in service-oriented interventions that they chose for themselves based on the course content and individual interests. Students’ well-being was measured at the beginning and end of the course. The well-being indicators included positive automatic thoughts, optimism and hope, satisfaction with life, and spirituality. A paired-samples t-test conducted to evaluate the impact of class content and service-oriented interventions on students’ scores of well-being indicators indicated statistically significant increase from pre-class to post-class scores. There were also significant gender differences in post-course well-being scores, with females having higher levels of well-being than males. A two-way between groups analysis of variance indicated a significant interaction effect of age by gender on the post-course well-being scores, with females in the age group of 56-65 having the highest scores of well-being in comparison to the males in the same age group. Regression analyses indicated that positive automatic thought significantly predicted hope and satisfaction with life in the pre-course analysis. In the post-course regression analysis, spiritual transcendence made a significant contribution to optimism, and positive automatic thought made a significant contribution to both hope and satisfaction with life. Finally, a significant test between pre-course and post-course regression coefficients indicated that the regression coefficients at pre-course were significantly different from post-course coefficients, suggesting that the positive psychology course and the interventions were helpful in raising the levels of well-being. The overall results suggest a substantial increase in the participants’ well-being scores after engaging in the positive-oriented interventions, implying a need for designing more positive interventions in education to promote well-being.  

Keywords: Hope, optimism, positive automatic thoughts, satisfaction with life, spirituality, well-being.

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