Search results for: project development

Authors: Prasopchoke Mongsawad

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The Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy, bestowed by His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej to the people of Thailand, highlights a balanced way of living. Three principles of moderation reasonableness, and immunity, along with the conditions for morality and knowledge, can be applied to any level of the society–from an individual to the nation. The Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy helps address the current development challenges, which are issues on institutions, environmental sustainability, human well-being, and the role of the government.

Keywords: Sufficiency Economy, Development Theory, Sustainable Development, Environmental Sustainability, Social Capital, Human Well-Being,

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Authors: Denise Levy, Anna Lucia C. H. Villavicencio

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Food irradiation is a processing and preservation technique to eliminate insects and parasites and reduce disease-causing microorganisms. Moreover, the process helps to inhibit sprouting and delay ripening, extending fresh fruits and vegetables shelf-life. Nevertheless, most Brazilian consumers seem to misunderstand the difference between irradiated food and radioactive food and the general public has major concerns about the negative health effects and environmental contamination. Society´s judgment and decision making are directly linked to perceived benefits and risks. The web-based project entitled ‘Scientific information about food irradiation: Internet as a tool to approach science and society’ was created by the Nuclear and Energetic Research Institute (IPEN), in order to offer an interdisciplinary approach to science education, integrating economic, ethical, social and political aspects of food irradiation. This project takes into account that, misinformation and unfounded preconceived ideas impact heavily on the acceptance of irradiated food and purchase intention by the Brazilian consumer. Taking advantage of the potential value of the Internet to enhance communication and education among general public, a research study was carried out regarding the possibilities and trends of Information and Communication Technologies among the Brazilian population. The content includes concepts, definitions and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about processes, safety, advantages, limitations and the possibilities of food irradiation, including health issues, as well as its impacts on the environment. The project counts on eight self-instructional interactive web courses, situating scientific content in relevant social contexts in order to encourage self-learning and further reflections. Communication is a must to improve public understanding of science. The use of information technology for quality scientific divulgation shall contribute greatly to provide information throughout the country, spreading information to as many people as possible, minimizing geographic distances and stimulating communication and development.

Keywords: Food irradiation, multimedia learning tools, nuclear science, society and education.

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Authors: Nazym Shedenova, Aigul Beimisheva

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The market transformation in Kazakhstan during the last two decades has essentially strengthened a gap between development of urban and rural areas. Implementation of market institutes, transition from public financing to paid rendering of social services, change of forms of financing of social and economic infrastructure have led to strengthening of an economic inequality of social groups, including growth of stratification of the city and the village. Sociological survey of urban and rural households in Almaty city and villages of Almaty region has been carried out within the international research project “Livelihoods Strategies of Private Households in Central Asia: A Rural–Urban Comparison in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan" (Germany, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan). The analysis of statistical data and results of sociological research of urban and rural households allows us to reveal issues of territorial development, to investigate an availability of medical, educational and other services in the city and the village, to reveal an evaluation urban and rural dwellers of living conditions, to compare economic strategies of households in the city and the village.

Keywords: Urban and rural households, social and economic infrastructure, territorial availability.

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Authors: Jung-Hun Cho, Tae-Heon Moon, Jin-Hak Lee

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Land price contains the comprehensive characteristics of urban space, representing the social and economic features of the city. Accordingly, land price can be utilized as an indicator, which can identify the changes of spatial structure and socioeconomic variations caused by urban development. This study attempted to explore the changes in land price by a new road construction. Methodologically, it adopted Space Syntax, which can interpret urban spatial structure comprehensively, to identify the relationship between the forms of road networks and land price. The result of the regression analysis showed the ‘integration index’ of Space Syntax is statistically significant and has a strong correlation with land price. If the integration value is high, land price increases proportionally. Subsequently, using regression equation, it tried to predict the land price changes of each of the lots surrounding the roads that are newly opened. The research methods or study results have the advantage of predicting the changes in land price in an easy way. In addition, it will contribute to planners and project managers to establish relevant polices and smoothing urban regeneration projects through enhancing residents’ understanding by providing possible results and advantages in their land price before the execution of urban regeneration and development projects.

Keywords: Space syntax, urban regeneration, spatial structure, official land price.

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Authors: Nadeem Ehsan, Ebtisam Mirza, Muhammad Ahmad

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In a complex project environment, project teams face multi-dimensional communication problems that can ultimately lead to project breakdown. Team Performance varies in Face-to-Face (FTF) environment versus groups working remotely in a computermediated communication (CMC) environment. A brief review of the Input_Process_Output model suggested by James E. Driskell, Paul H. Radtke and Eduardo Salas in “Virtual Teams: Effects of Technological Mediation on Team Performance (2003)", has been done to develop the basis of this research. This model theoretically analyzes the effects of technological mediation on team processes, such as, cohesiveness, status and authority relations, counternormative behavior and communication. An empirical study described in this paper has been undertaken to test the “cohesiveness" of diverse project teams in a multi-national organization. This study uses both quantitative and qualitative techniques for data gathering and analysis. These techniques include interviews, questionnaires for data collection and graphical data representation for analyzing the collected data. Computer-mediated technology may impact team performance because of difference in cohesiveness among teams and this difference may be moderated by factors, such as, the type of communication environment, the type of task and the temporal context of the team. Based on the reviewed model, sets of hypotheses are devised and tested. This research, reports on a study that compared team cohesiveness among virtual teams using CMC and non-CMC communication mediums. The findings suggest that CMC can help virtual teams increase team cohesiveness among their members, making CMC an effective medium for increasing productivity and team performance.

Keywords: Computer-mediated Communication, Virtual Teams, Team Performance, Team Cohesiveness.

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Authors: Ernesto A. Lagarda-Leyva, Manuel A. Valenzuela L., José G. Oshima C., Arnulfo A. Naranjo-Flores

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From August to December of 2016, a diagnostic and strategic planning study was carried out on the supply chain of the company Agropecuaria GABO S.A. de C.V. The final product of the study was the development of the strategic plan and a project portfolio to meet the demands of the three links in the supply chain of the Roma tomato exported annually to the United States of America. In this project, the strategic objective of ensuring the proper handling of the product was selected and one of the goals associated with this was the employment of quantitative methods to support decision making. Considering the antecedents, the objective of this case study was to develop a model to analyze the behavioral dynamics in the distribution chain, from the logistics of storage and shipment of Roma tomato in 81-case pallets (11.5 kg per case), to the two pre-cooling rooms and eventual loading onto transports, seeking to reduce the bottleneck and the associated costs by means of a dynamic interface. The methodology used was that of system dynamics, considering four phases that were adapted to the purpose of the study: 1) the conceptualization phase; 2) the formulation phase; 3) the evaluation phase; and 4) the communication phase. The main practical conclusions lead to the possibility of reducing both the bottlenecks in the cooling rooms and the costs by simulating scenarios and modifying certain policies. Furthermore, the creation of the dynamic interface between the model and the stakeholders was achieved by generating interaction with buttons and simple instructions that allow making modifications and observing diverse behaviors.

Keywords: Agrilogistics, distribution, scenarios, system dynamics.

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Authors: Maisam Rafiee, Chikashi Deguchi, Akio Odake, Minoru Matsui, Takanori Sata

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Cities in Afghanistan have been rapidly urbanized; however, many parts of these cities have been developed with no detailed land use plan or infrastructure. In other words, they have been informally developed without any government leadership. The new government started the In-situ Upgrading Project in Kabul to upgrade roads, the water supply network system, and the surface water drainage system on the existing street layout in 2002, with the financial support of international agencies. This project is an appropriate emergency improvement for living life, but not an essential improvement of living conditions and infrastructure problems because the life expectancies of the improved facilities are as short as 10–15 years, and residents cannot obtain land tenure in the unplanned areas. The Land Readjustment System (LRS) conducted in Japan has good advantages that rearrange irregularly shaped land lots and develop the infrastructure effectively. This study investigates the effects of the In-situ Upgrading Project on private investment, land prices, and residents’ satisfaction with projects in Kart-e-Char, where properties are registered, and in Afshar-e-Silo Lot 1, where properties are unregistered. These projects are located 5 km and 7 km from the CBD area of Kabul, respectively. This study discusses whether LRS should be applied to the unplanned area based on the questionnaire and interview responses of experts experienced in the In-situ Upgrading Project who have knowledge of LRS. The analysis results reveal that, in Kart-e-Char, a lot of private investment has been made in the construction of medium-rise (five- to nine-story) buildings for commercial and residential purposes. Land values have also incrementally increased since the project, and residents are commonly satisfied with the road pavement, drainage systems, and water supplies, but dissatisfied with the poor delivery of electricity as well as the lack of public facilities (e.g., parks and sport facilities). In Afshar-e-Silo Lot 1, basic infrastructures like paved roads and surface water drainage systems have improved from the project. After the project, a few four- and five-story residential buildings were built with very low-level private investments, but significant increases in land prices were not evident. The residents are satisfied with the contribution ratio, drainage system, and small increase in land price, but there is still no drinking water supply system or tenure security; moreover, there are substandard paved roads and a lack of public facilities, such as parks, sport facilities, mosques, and schools. The results of the questionnaire and interviews with the four engineers highlight the problems that remain to be solved in the unplanned areas if LRS is applied—namely, land use differences, types and conditions of the infrastructure still to be installed by the project, and time spent for positive consensus building among the residents, given the project’s budget limitation.

Keywords: In-Situ Upgrading, Kabul, Land Readjustment, Land value, Planned areas, Private investment, Resident satisfaction, Unplanned areas.

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Authors: G. Erkomaishvili

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This paper discusses small entrepreneurship development strategy in Georgia and the tools and regulations that will encourage development of small entrepreneurship. The current situation in the small entrepreneurship sector, as well as factors affecting growth and decline in the sector and the priorities of state support, are studied and analyzed. The objective of this research is to assess the current situation of the sector to highlight opportunities and reveal the gaps. State support of small entrepreneurship should become a key priority in the country’s economic policy, as development of the sector will ensure social, economic and political stability. Based on the research, a small entrepreneurship development strategy is presented; corresponding conclusions are made and recommendations are developed.

Keywords: Economic policy for small entrepreneurship development, small entrepreneurship, regulations, small entrepreneurship development strategy.

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Authors: Toshimi Munehira

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In order to optimize annual IT spending and to reduce the complexity of an entire system architecture, SOA trials have been started. It is common knowledge that to design an SOA system we have to adopt the top-down approach, but in reality silo systems are being made, so these companies cannot reuse newly designed services, and cannot enjoy SOA-s economic benefits. To prevent this situation, we designed a generic SOA development process referred to as the architecture of “mass customization." To define the generic detail development processes, we did a case study on an imaginary company. Through the case study, we could define the practical development processes and found this could vastly reduce updating development costs.

Keywords: SOA, BPM, Generic Model, MassCustomization

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Authors: Atakan Kurt, Arzu Naiboğlu

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We present an implementation of an Online Exhibition System (OES) web service(s) that reflects our experiences with using web service development packages and software process models. The system provides major functionality that exists in similar packages. While developing such a complex web service, we gained insightful experience (i) in the traditional software development processes: waterfall model and evolutionary development and their fitness to web services development, (ii) in the fitness and effectiveness of a major web services development kit.

Keywords: Web Services, Online Exhibition System, Software Engineering, Waterfall Model, e-business.

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Authors: G. Erkomaishvili, R. Gvelesiani, E. Kharaishvili, M. Chavleishvili

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The topic reviews the situation existing currently in Georgia in the field of tourism in conditions of globalization: Touristic resources, the paces of development of the tourism infrastructure, tourism policy, possibilities of development of the Wellness industry in Georgia, that is the newest direction of the medical tourism. The factors impeding the development of the industry of tourism, namely – existence of the conflict zones, high rates of the bank credits, deficiencies associated with the tax laws, a level of infrastructural development, quality of services, deficit in the competitive staff, increase of prices in the peak seasons, insufficient promotion of the touristic opportunities of Georgia on the international markets are studied and analyzed. Besides, the level of development of tourism in Georgia according to the World Economic Forum, aspects of cooperation with the European Union, etc., is reviewed. As a result of these studies, a strategy of development of tourism and one of its direction – Wellness industry in Georgia, is introduced with the relevant conclusions, on which basis the recommendations are provided.

Keywords: Tourism, Tourism Policy, Wellness Industry.

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Authors: Mina Fenercioglu

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This study discusses a Turkish music education model similar to its Venezuelan counterpart El Sistema, in which socialization and human development are the main goals. The Music for Peace (Baris Icin Muzik) model, founded in 2005 by an idealist humanitarian in Istanbul, started as a pilot project with accordion and today makes symphonic music education. The program aims to offer social change through free-of-charge. In such a big city like Istanbul, in a deprived inner city center people have poor economic, social and cultural conditions. In that Edirnekapi district people don’t have opportunities to join the cultural and social life, like music or sports. It is believed that this initiative covered a part of this gap by giving children the opportunities to participate in social and cultural life. In this study it is planned to understand what social changes could music education could make in children’s lives. In the complimentary music lessons children works in groups, which helps them to learn the feelings of solidarity, friendship, communion and sharing. By Music for Peace project children connect with the community, they have the belief to succeed in life because they feel that they are loved by their friends, instructors and families. In short they feel that they are important, thus brings the success in life. Additionally, it is believed that, this program has achieved success. Today approximately 400 children participate in this programs orchestras and choirs. Some of the students get into the conservatories. And the center is not just a place where they get music lessons but also a place where they get socialized. And music education helps children to have strong sense of identity, self-confidence and self-esteem.

Keywords: El Sistema, music education, Music for Peace, socialization.

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Authors: Ju-Young Kim, Tae-Heon Moon, Jung-Hun Cho

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Urban regeneration projects have been actively promoted in Korea. In particular, Jeonju Hanok Village is evaluated as one of representative cases in terms of utilizing local cultural heritage sits in the urban regeneration project. However, recently, there has been a growing concern in this area, due to the ‘gentrification’, caused by the excessive commercialization and surging tourists. This trend was changing land and building use and resulted in the loss of identity of the region. In this regard, this study analyzed the land use transformation between 2010 and 2016 to identify the commercialization trend in Jeonju Hanok Village. In addition, it conducted SNS big data analysis on Jeonju Hanok Village from February 14th, 2016 to March 31st, 2016 to identify visitors’ awareness of the village. The study results demonstrate that rapid commercialization was underway, unlikely the initial intention, so that planners and officials in city government should reconsider the project direction and rebuild deliberate management strategies. This study is meaningful in that it analyzed the land use transformation and SNS big data to identify the current situation in urban regeneration area. Furthermore, it is expected that the study results will contribute to the vitalization of regeneration area.

Keywords: Land use, SNS, text mining, urban regeneration.

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Authors: Sou Watanabe, Hiromichi Ogi, Atsuhiro Shibata, Kazunori Nomura

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As a part of STRAD project conducted by JAEA, condensation of radioactive liquid waste containing various chemical compounds using reverse osmosis (RO) membrane filter was examined for efficient and safety treatment of the liquid wastes accumulated inside hot laboratories. NH₄⁺ ion in the feed solution was successfully concentrated, and NH₄⁺ ion involved in the effluents became lower than target value; 100 ppm. Solidification of simulated aqueous and organic liquid wastes was also tested. Those liquids were successfully solidified by adding cement or coagulants. Nevertheless, optimization in materials for confinement of chemicals is required for long time storage of the final solidified wastes.

Keywords: Radioactive liquid waste, condensation, solidification, STRAD project.

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Authors: C. Malça, N. Alves, A. Mateus

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This work was one of the tasks of the Manufacturing2Client project, whose objective was to develop a frontal deflector to be commercialized in the automotive industry, using new project and manufacturing methods. In this task, in particular, it was proposed to develop the ability to predict computationally the aerodynamic influence of flow in vehicles, in an effort to reduce fuel consumption in vehicles from class 3 to 8. With this aim, two deflector models were developed and their aerodynamic performance analyzed. The aerodynamic study was done using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software Ansys CFX and allowed the calculation of the drag coefficient caused by the vehicle motion for the different configurations considered. Moreover, the reduction of diesel consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with the optimized deflector geometry could be assessed.

Keywords: Aerodynamic analysis, CFD, CO2 emissions, Drag coefficient, Frontal deflector, Fuel consumption.

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Authors: James Moir

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Citizens are increasingly are provided with choice and customization in public services and this has now also become a key feature of higher education in terms of policy roll-outs on personal development planning (PDP) and more generally as part of the employability agenda. The goal here is to transform people, in this case graduates, into active, responsible citizen-workers. A key part of this rhetoric and logic is the inculcation of graduate attributes within students. However, there has also been a concern with the issue of student lack of engagement and perseverance with their studies. This paper sets out to explore some of these conceptions that link graduate attributes with citizenship as well as the notion of how identity is forged through the higher education process. Examples are drawn from a quality enhancement project that is being operated within the context of the Scottish higher education system. This is further framed within the wider context of competing and conflicting demands on higher education, exacerbated by the current worldwide economic climate. There are now pressures on students to develop their employability skills as well as their capacity to engage with global issues such as behavioural change in the light of environmental concerns. It is argued that these pressures, in effect, lead to a form of personalization that is concerned with how graduates develop their sense of identity as something that is engineered and re-engineered to meet these demands.

Keywords: students, higher education, employability, knowledge, personal development

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Authors: S. Pancucci

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Professional development is the focus of this study. It reports on questionnaire data that examined the perceived effectiveness of the Train the Trainer model of technology professional development for elementary teachers. Eighty-three selected teachers called Information Technology Coaches received four half-day and one after-school in-service sessions. Subsequently, coaches shared the information and skills acquired during training with colleagues. Results indicated that participants felt comfortable as Information Technology Coaches and felt well prepared because of their technological professional development. Overall, participants perceived the Train the Trainer model to be effective. The outcomes of this study suggest that the use of the Train the Trainer model, a known professional development model, can be an integral and interdependent component of the newer more comprehensive learning community professional development model.

Keywords: change, education, learning community, professional development, school improvement, technology coach, Train the Trainer.

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Authors: Pavol Tanuska, Pavel Vazan, Michal Kebisek, Dominika Jurovata

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The paper gives the results of the project that was oriented on the usage of knowledge discoveries from production systems for needs of the hierarchical process control. One of the main project goals was the proposal of knowledge discovery model for process control. Specifics data mining methods and techniques was used for defined problems of the process control. The gained knowledge was used on the real production system thus the proposed solution has been verified. The paper documents how is possible to apply the new discovery knowledge to use in the real hierarchical process control. There are specified the opportunities for application of the proposed knowledge discovery model for hierarchical process control.

Keywords: Hierarchical process control, knowledge discovery from databases, neural network.

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Authors: Sandoval Villa Héctor, Estrada Velazco Evaristo, Chavarría Alamilla Luis

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Pleurotus ostreatus is a common edible mushroom with a number of properties that can help to solve the nutritional and economical problems of people in Chiapas, Mexico. The objective of this project was to produce the mushroom under a sustainable management in which only regional products were allowed as a way to promote the cultivation and consumption of Pleurotus ostreatus; 5 different substrates were tested as well as 2 sanitation methods. The obtained results showed that the highest yields were obtained using corn husk and a thermal sanitation method. Pests and diseases were not a problem during the project but they appeared more in the substrates sanitized with calcium hydroxide.

Keywords: Pleurotus ostreatus, substrates, sanitation.

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Authors: Ronbanchob Apiratikul

Abstract:

This research studied recycled waste by the Recyclable Material Bank Project of 4 universities in the central region of Thailand for the evaluation of reducing greenhouse gas emissions compared with landfilling activity during July 2012 to June 2013. The results showed that the projects collected total amount of recyclable wastes of about 911,984.80 kilograms. Office paper had the largest amount among these recycled wastes (50.68% of total recycled waste). Groups of recycled waste can be prioritized from high to low according to their amount as paper, plastic, glass, mixed recyclables, and metal, respectively. The project reduced greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to about 2814.969 metric tons of carbon dioxide. The most significant recycled waste that affects the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is office paper which is 70.16% of total reduced greenhouse gasses emission. According to amount of reduced greenhouse gasses emission, groups of recycled waste can be prioritized from high to low significances as paper, plastic, metals, mixed recyclables, and glass, respectively.

Keywords: Recycling, garbage bank, waste management, recyclable wastes, greenhouse gasses.

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Authors: Amit Bhattacharyya

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The economic scenario of any region does not show the real picture for the measurement of overall development. Therefore, economic development must be accompanied by social development to be able to make an assessment to measure the level of development. The spatial variation with respect to social development has been discussed taking into account the quality of functioning of a social system in a specific area. In this paper, an attempt has been made to study the spatial distribution of social infrastructural facilities and analyze the magnitude of regional disparities at inter- block level in Barddhman district. It starts with the detailed account of the selection process of social infrastructure indicators and describes the methodology employed in the empirical analysis. Analyzing the block level data, this paper tries to identify the disparity among the blocks in the levels of social development. The results have been subsequently explained using both statistical analysis and geo spatial technique. The paper reveals that the social development is not going on at the same rate in every part of the district. Health facilities and educational facilities are concentrated at some selected point. So overall development activities come to be concentrated in a few centres and the disparity is seen over the blocks.

Keywords: Disparity, inter-block, social development, spatial variation.

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Authors: Saidu Ibrahim, Winston M. W. Shakantu

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The problem of construction material waste remains unresolved, as a significant percentage of the materials delivered to some project sites end up as waste which might result in additional project cost. Cost overrun is a problem which affects 90% of the completed projects in the world. The argument on how to eliminate it has been on-going for the past 70 years, but there is neither substantial improvement nor significant solution for mitigating its detrimental effects. Research evidence has proposed various construction cost overruns and material-waste management approaches; nonetheless, these studies failed to give a clear indication on the framework and the equation for managing construction material waste and cost overruns. Hence, this research aims to develop a conceptual framework and a mathematical equation for managing material waste and cost overrun in the construction industry. The paper adopts the desktop methodological approach. This involves comparing the causes of material waste and those of cost overruns from the literature to determine the possible relationship. The review revealed a relationship between material waste and cost overrun that; increase in material waste would result to a corresponding increase in the amount of cost overrun at both the pre-contract and the post contract stages of a project. It was found from the equation that achieving an effective construction material waste management must ensure a “Good Quality-of-Planning, Estimating, and Design Management” and a “Good Quality- of-Construction, Procurement and Site Management”; a decrease in “Design Complexity” which would reduce “Material Waste” and subsequently reduce the amount of cost overrun by 86.74%. The conceptual framework and the mathematical equation developed in this study are recommended to the professionals of the construction industry.

Keywords: Conceptual framework, cost overrun, material waste, project stags.

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Authors: P. Valdez, M. Pelissero, A. Haim, F. Muiño, F. Galia, R. Tula

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As a result of the studies performed on the wave energy resource worldwide, a research project was set up to harvest wave energy for its conversion into electrical energy. Within this framework, a theoretical model of the electromechanical energy harvesting system, developed with MATLAB’s Simulink software, will be provided. This tool recreates the site conditions where the device will be installed and offers valuable information about the amount of energy that can be harnessed. This research provides a deeper understanding of the utilization of wave energy in order to improve the efficiency of a 1:1 scale prototype of the device.

Keywords: Electromechanical device, modeling, renewable energy, sea wave energy, simulation.

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Authors: A. A. Shafie, Fadhlan Hafiz, M. H. Ali

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Motion detection is very important in image processing. One way of detecting motion is using optical flow. Optical flow cannot be computed locally, since only one independent measurement is available from the image sequence at a point, while the flow velocity has two components. A second constraint is needed. The method used for finding the optical flow in this project is assuming that the apparent velocity of the brightness pattern varies smoothly almost everywhere in the image. This technique is later used in developing software for motion detection which has the capability to carry out four types of motion detection. The motion detection software presented in this project also can highlight motion region, count motion level as well as counting object numbers. Many objects such as vehicles and human from video streams can be recognized by applying optical flow technique.

Keywords: Background modeling, Motion detection, Optical flow, Velocity smoothness constant, motion trajectories.

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Authors: Chowdhury Dilruba Shoma

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Gender is about equal rights that both males and females having access to responsibilities and opportunities in decision making is a fundamental human right. It is also a precondition for, and a mark of, sustainable people-oriented development. In Bangladesh, women have fewer opportunities than men do to access credit from banks and financial institutions. Entrenched patriarchal attitudes, unequal inheritance rights, and male-dominated hierarchies in the financial system, plus high interest rates and a lack of security/collateral, make it harder for women to obtain bank loans. Limited access to institutional credit is a serious restraint on the productivity and income of women entrepreneurs, (and the wider economy). These gender-biased and structural barriers inhibit women’s access to fundamental economic rights. Using a liberal feminist theoretical lens, this study provides some useful insights into the relationship between gender inequality and entrepreneurship, leading to a better understanding of women’s entrepreneurship development in Bangladesh. Recently, the Bangladesh Government, the United Nations Capital Development Fund, and Bangladesh Bank opened up the Women Entrepreneur Support Fund (WESF) ‒ Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS) pilot project to cover collateral shortfalls for women entrepreneurs in the small and medium enterprise sector. The aim is to improve gender equality and advance women’s rights in relation to receiving credit. This article examines the challenges and prospects of the WESF-CGS, and suggests that implementation of measures in WESF-CGS policymaking, coupled with a combination of legislatory and regulatory reforms that implement the fundamental tenets of liberal feminism, can lead to a comprehensive and effective credit policy to boost women’s agency and economic empowerment. This may ultimately lead to more sustainable development in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Bangladesh, CGS, liberal feminist theory, women entrepreneur support fund.

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Authors: T. Gómez-Navarro, M. García-Melón, D. Díaz-Martín, S. Acuna-Dutra,

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In this paper a new approach to prioritize urban planning projects in an efficient and reliable way is presented. It is based on environmental pressure indices and multicriteria decision methods. The paper introduces a rigorous method with acceptable complexity of rank ordering urban development proposals according to their environmental pressure. The technique combines the use of Environmental Pressure Indicators, the aggregation of indicators in an Environmental Pressure Index by means of the Analytic Network Process method and interpreting the information obtained from the experts during the decision-making process. The ANP method allows the aggregation of the experts- judgments on each of the indicators into one Environmental Pressure Index. In addition, ANP is based on utility ratio functions which are the most appropriate for the analysis of uncertain data, like experts- estimations. Finally, unlike the other multicriteria techniques, ANP allows the decision problem to be modelled using the relationships among dependent criteria. The method has been applied to the proposal for urban development of La Carlota airport in Caracas (Venezuela). The Venezuelan Government would like to see a recreational project develop on the abandoned area and mean a significant improvement for the capital. There are currently three options on their table which are currently under evaluation. They include a Health Club, a Residential area and a Theme Park. The participating experts coincided in the appreciation that the method proposed in this paper is useful and an improvement from traditional techniques such as environmental impact studies, lifecycle analysis, etc. They find the results obtained coherent, the process seems sufficiently rigorous and precise, and the use of resources is significantly less than in other methods.

Keywords: Environmental pressure indicators, multicriteria decision analysis, analytic network process.

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Authors: Ronbanchob Apiratikul

Abstract:

This research studied recycled wastes by Recyclable Material Bank project of 17 universities of Thailand for evaluation of reducing greenhouse gasses emission compared with landfilling activity during January 2011 to December 2011. The results showed that the projects collected total amount of recyclable wastes about 1,626.917 metric ton. The office paper has the largest amount among these recycled wastes (55.61 % of total recycled wastes). Groups of recycled waste can be prioritized from high to low according to their amount as paper, plastic, glass, mixed recyclables and metal, respectively. The project reduced greenhouse gasses emission equivalent to about 5,263.481 metric ton of carbon dioxide. The most significant recycled waste that affects the reduction of greenhouse gasses emission is office paper which is 73.45% of total reduced greenhouse gasses emission. According to amount of reduced greenhouse gasses emission, groups of recycled waste can be prioritized from high to low significances as paper, plastic, metal, mixed recyclables and glass, respectively.

Keywords: recycling, garbage bank, waste management, recyclable wastes, greenhouse gasses

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Authors: K. Sheehy, R. Ferguson, G. Clough

Abstract:

This paper examines ethical and social issues which have proved important when initiating and creating educational spaces within a virtual environment. It focuses on one project, identifying the key decisions made, the barriers to new practice encountered and the impact these had on the project. It demonstrates the importance of the 'backstage' ethical and social issues involved in the creation of a virtual education community and offers conclusions, and questions, which will inform future research and practice in this area. These ethical issues are considered using Knobel-s framework of front-end, in-process and back-end concerns, and include establishing social practices for the islands, allocating access rights, considering personal safety and supporting researchers appropriately within this context.

Keywords: distance education, ethics, virtual environments.

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Authors: Masood Uzzafer

Abstract:

A dynamic software risk assessment model is presented. Analogies between dynamic financial analysis and software risk assessment models are established and based on these analogies it suggested that dynamic risk model for software projects is the way to move forward for the risk assessment of software project. It is shown how software risk assessment change during different phases of a software project and hence requires a dynamic risk assessment model to capture these variations. Further evolution of dynamic financial analysis models is discussed and mapped to the evolution of software risk assessment models.

Keywords: Software Risk Assessment, Software ProjectManagement, Software Cost, Dynamic Modeling.

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Authors: Zohreh Soltani, Seyedmohammadhossein Hosseinian

Abstract:

Reduction of energy consumption in built infrastructure, through the installation of energy-efficient technologies, is a major approach to achieving sustainability. In practice, the viability of energy efficiency projects strongly depends on the cost reimbursement and profitability. These projects are subject to failure if the actual cost savings do not reimburse the project cost promptly. In such cases, refinancing could be a solution to benefit from the long-term returns of the project, if implemented wisely. However, very little is still known about the effect of refinancing options on financial performance of energy efficiency projects. In order to fill this gap, the present study investigates the financial behavior of energy efficiency projects with focus on refinancing options, such as Leveraged Loans. A System Dynamics (SD) model is introduced, and the model application is presented using an actual case-study data. The case study results indicate that while high-interest start-ups make using Leveraged Loan inevitable, refinancing can rescue the project and bring about profitability. This paper also presents some managerial implications of refinancing energy efficiency projects based on the case-study analysis. Results of this study help to implement financially viable energy efficiency projects so that the community could benefit from their environmental advantages widely.

Keywords: Energy efficiency projects, leveraged loan, refinancing, sustainability.

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