Search results for: Capital Costs
529 Value for Money in Investment Projects
Authors: Jan Ceselsky
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Construction and reconstruction of settlements and individual municipalities, environmental management and the creation, deployment of the forces of production and building transport and technical equipment requires a large expenditure of material and human resources. That is why the economic aspects of the majority decision in these planes built in the foreground and are often decisive. Thereby but more serious is that the economic aspects of the settlement, the creation and function remain in their whole, unprocessed, and cannot speak of a set of individual techniques and methods traditional indicators and experiments with new approaches. This is true both at the level of the national economy, and in their own urban designs. Still a few remain identified specific economic shaping patterns of settlement and the less it is possible to speak of their control. Also practical assessing economics of specific solutions are often used non-apt indicators in addition to economics usually identifies with the lowest acquisition cost or high-intensity land use with little regard for functional efficiency and little studied much higher operating and maintenance costs".Keywords: Investment, municipal engineering, value for money.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1721528 Consistent Modeling of Functional Dependencies along with World Knowledge
Authors: Sven Rebhan, Nils Einecke, Julian Eggert
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In this paper we propose a method for vision systems to consistently represent functional dependencies between different visual routines along with relational short- and long-term knowledge about the world. Here the visual routines are bound to visual properties of objects stored in the memory of the system. Furthermore, the functional dependencies between the visual routines are seen as a graph also belonging to the object-s structure. This graph is parsed in the course of acquiring a visual property of an object to automatically resolve the dependencies of the bound visual routines. Using this representation, the system is able to dynamically rearrange the processing order while keeping its functionality. Additionally, the system is able to estimate the overall computational costs of a certain action. We will also show that the system can efficiently use that structure to incorporate already acquired knowledge and thus reduce the computational demand.Keywords: Adaptive systems, Knowledge representation, Machinevision, Systems engineering
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1696527 Sustainable Development in Construction
Authors: Ali Hemmati, Ali Kheyroddin
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Semnan is a city in semnan province, northern Iran with a population estimated at 119,778 inhabitants. It is the provincial capital of semnan province. Iran is a developing country and construction is a basic factor of developing too. Hence, Semnan city needs to a special programming for construction of buildings, structures and infrastructures. Semnan municipality tries to begin this program. In addition to, city has some historical monuments which can be interesting for tourists. Hence, Semnan inhabitants can benefit from tourist industry. Optimization of Energy in construction industry is another activity of this municipality and the inhabitants who execute these regulations receive some discounts. Many parts of Iran such as semnan are located in highly seismic zones and structures must be constructed safe e.g., according to recent seismic codes. In this paper opportunities of IT in construction industry of Iran are investigated in three categories. Pre-construction phase, construction phase and earthquake disaster mitigation are studied. Studies show that information technology can be used in these items for reducing the losses and increasing the benefits. Both government and private sectors must contribute to this strategic project for obtaining the best result.Keywords: approval, building, construction, document, industry, IT, Semnan
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1545526 Vendor Selection and Supply Quotas Determination by using Revised Weighting Method and Multi-Objective Programming Methods
Authors: Tunjo Perić, Marin Fatović
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In this paper a new methodology for vendor selection and supply quotas determination (VSSQD) is proposed. The problem of VSSQD is solved by the model that combines revised weighting method for determining the objective function coefficients, and a multiple objective linear programming (MOLP) method based on the cooperative game theory for VSSQD. The criteria used for VSSQD are: (1) purchase costs and (2) product quality supplied by individual vendors. The proposed methodology has been tested on the example of flour purchase for a bakery with two decision makers.Keywords: Cooperative game theory, multiple objective linear programming, revised weighting method, vendor selection.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1969525 Traffic Congestion Problem and Possible Solution in Kabul City
Authors: Sayed Abdul Rahman Sadaat, Nsenda Lukumwena
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Traffic congestion is a worldwide issue, especially in developing countries. This is also the case of Afghanistan, especially in Kabul-the capital city, whose rapid population growth makes it the fifth fastest growing city in the world. Traffic congestion affects not only the mobility of people and goods but also the air quality that leads to numerous deaths (3000 people) every year. There are many factors that contribute to traffic congestion. The insufficiency and inefficiency of public transportation system along with the increase of private vehicles can be considered among the most important contributing factors. This paper addresses the traffic congestion and attempts to suggest possible solutions that can help improve the current public transportation system in Kabul. To this end, the methodology used in this paper includes field work conducted in Kabul city and literature review. The outcome suggests that improving the public transportation system is likely to contribute to the reduction of traffic congestion and the improvement of air quality, thereby reducing the number of death related to air quality.
Keywords: Air quality, Kabul, Afghanistan, public transportation system, improvements, traffic congestion.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2489524 Recent Developments in Electric Vehicles for Passenger Car Transport
Authors: Amela Ajanovic
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Electric vehicles are considered as technology which can significantly reduce the problems related to road transport such as increasing GHG emissions, air pollutions and energy import dependency. The core objective of this paper is to analyze the current energetic, ecological and economic characteristics of different types of electric vehicles. The major conclusions of this analysis are: The high investments cost are the major barrier for broad market breakthrough of battery electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles. For battery electric vehicles also the limited driving range states a key obstacle. The analyzed hybrids could in principle serve as a bridging technology. However, due to their tank-to-wheel emissions they cannot state a proper solution for urban areas. Finally, the most important perception is that also battery electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles are environmentally benign solution if the primary fuel source is renewable.Keywords: Costs, fuel intensity, electric vehicles, emissions.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2353523 A Proposed Information Extraction Technique in Engineering Drawing for Reuse Design
Authors: Mohd Fahmi Mohamad Amran, Riza Sulaiman, Saliyah Kahar, Suziyanti Marjudi, Muhammad FairuzAbd Rauf
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The extensive number of engineering drawing will be referred for planning process and the changes will produce a good engineering design to meet the demand in producing a new model. The advantage in reuse of engineering designs is to allow continuous product development to further improve the quality of product development, thus reduce the development costs. However, to retrieve the existing engineering drawing, it is time consuming, a complex process and are expose to errors. Engineering drawing file searching system will be proposed to solve this problem. It is essential for engineer and designer to have some sort of medium to enable them to search for drawing in the most effective way. This paper lays out the proposed research project under the area of information extraction in engineering drawing.
Keywords: Computer aided design, information extraction, engineering drawing, reuse design.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2309522 Optimal DG Placement in Distribution systems Using Cost/Worth Analysis
Authors: M Ahmadigorji, A. Abbaspour, A Rajabi-Ghahnavieh, M. Fotuhi- Firuzabad
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DG application has received increasing attention during recent years. The impact of DG on various aspects of distribution system operation, such as reliability and energy loss, depend highly on DG location in distribution feeder. Optimal DG placement is an important subject which has not been fully discussed yet. This paper presents an optimization method to determine optimal DG placement, based on a cost/worth analysis approach. This method considers technical and economical factors such as energy loss, load point reliability indices and DG costs, and particularly, portability of DG. The proposed method is applied to a test system and the impacts of different parameters such as load growth rate and load forecast uncertainty (LFU) on optimum DG location are studied.Keywords: Distributed generation, optimal placement, cost/worthanalysis, customer interruption cost, Dynamic programming
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2975521 Efficient Implementation of Serial and Parallel Support Vector Machine Training with a Multi-Parameter Kernel for Large-Scale Data Mining
Authors: Tatjana Eitrich, Bruno Lang
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This work deals with aspects of support vector learning for large-scale data mining tasks. Based on a decomposition algorithm that can be run in serial and parallel mode we introduce a data transformation that allows for the usage of an expensive generalized kernel without additional costs. In order to speed up the decomposition algorithm we analyze the problem of working set selection for large data sets and analyze the influence of the working set sizes onto the scalability of the parallel decomposition scheme. Our modifications and settings lead to improvement of support vector learning performance and thus allow using extensive parameter search methods to optimize classification accuracy.
Keywords: Support Vector Machines, Shared Memory Parallel Computing, Large Data
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1577520 Is the Liberalization Policy Effective on Improving the Bivariate Cointegration of Current Accounts, Foreign Exchange, Stock Prices? Further Evidence from Asian Markets
Authors: Chen-Yin Kuo
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This paper fist examines three set of bivariate cointegrations between any two of current accounts, stock markets, and currency exchange markets in ten Asian countries. Furthermore, we examined the effect of country characters on this bivariate cointegration. Our findings suggest that for three sets of cointegration test, each sample country at least exists one cointegration. India consistently exhibited a bi-directional causal relationship between any two of three indicators. Unlike Pan et al. (2007) and Phylaktis and Ravazzolo (2005), we found that such cointegration is influenced by three characteristics: capital control; flexibility in foreign exchange rates; and the ratio of trade to GDP. These characteristics are the result of liberalization in each Asian country. This implies that liberalization policies are effective on improving the cointegration between any two of financial markets and current account for ten Asian countries.
Keywords: Current account, stock price, foreign exchange rate, country characteristics, bivariate cointegration, bi-directional causal relationships.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1471519 Large-Scale Production of High-Performance Fiber-Metal-Laminates by Prepreg-Press-Technology
Authors: Christian Lauter, Corin Reuter, Shuang Wu, Thomas Troester
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Lightweight construction became more and more important over the last decades in several applications, e.g. in the automotive or aircraft sector. This is the result of economic and ecological constraints on the one hand and increasing safety and comfort requirements on the other hand. In the field of lightweight design, different approaches are used due to specific requirements towards the technical systems. The use of endless carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) offers the largest weight saving potential of sometimes more than 50% compared to conventional metal-constructions. However, there are very limited industrial applications because of the cost-intensive manufacturing of the fibers and production technologies. Other disadvantages of pure CFRP-structures affect the quality control or the damage resistance. One approach to meet these challenges is hybrid materials. This means CFRP and sheet metal are combined on a material level. Therefore, new opportunities for innovative process routes are realizable. Hybrid lightweight design results in lower costs due to an optimized material utilization and the possibility to integrate the structures in already existing production processes of automobile manufacturers. In recent and current research, the advantages of two-layered hybrid materials have been pointed out, i.e. the possibility to realize structures with tailored mechanical properties or to divide the curing cycle of the epoxy resin into two steps. Current research work at the Chair for Automotive Lightweight Design (LiA) at the Paderborn University focusses on production processes for fiber-metal-laminates. The aim of this work is the development and qualification of a large-scale production process for high-performance fiber-metal-laminates (FML) for industrial applications in the automotive or aircraft sector. Therefore, the prepreg-press-technology is used, in which pre-impregnated carbon fibers and sheet metals are formed and cured in a closed, heated mold. The investigations focus e.g. on the realization of short process chains and cycle times, on the reduction of time-consuming manual process steps, and the reduction of material costs. This paper gives an overview over the considerable steps of the production process in the beginning. Afterwards experimental results are discussed. This part concentrates on the influence of different process parameters on the mechanical properties, the laminate quality and the identification of process limits. Concluding the advantages of this technology compared to conventional FML-production-processes and other lightweight design approaches are carried out.
Keywords: Composite material, Fiber metal laminate, Lightweight construction, Prepreg press technology, Large-series production.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1892518 Developing an Audit Quality Model for an Emerging Market
Authors: Bita Mashayekhi, Azadeh Maddahi, Arash Tahriri
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The purpose of this paper is developing a model for audit quality, with regard to the contextual and environmental attributes of the audit profession in Iran. For this purpose, using an exploratory approach, and because of the special attributes of the auditing profession in Iran in terms of the legal environment, regulatory and supervisory mechanisms, audit firms size, and etc., we used grounded theory approach as a qualitative research method. Therefore, we got the opinions of the experts in the auditing and capital market areas through unstructured interviews. As a result, the authors revealed the determinants of audit quality, and by using these determinants, developed an Integrated Audit Quality Model, including causal conditions, intervening conditions, context, as well as action strategies related to AQ and their consequences. In this research, audit quality is studied using a systemic approach. According to this approach, the quality of inputs, processes, and outputs of auditing determines the quality of auditing, therefore, the quality of all different parts of this system is considered.Keywords: Audit quality, integrated audit quality model, audit supply, demand for audit service, grounded theory.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1282517 The Impact of ERP Systems on Accounting Processes
Authors: Despina Galani, Efthymios Gravas, Antonios Stavropoulos
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Advances in information technology, recent changes in business environment, globalization, deregulation, privatization have made running a successful business more difficult than ever before. To remain successful and to be competitive have forced companies to react to the new changes in order to survive and succeed. The implementation of an Enterprise Resource planning (ERP) system improves information flow, reduce costs, establish linkage with suppliers and reduce response time to customer needs. This paper focuses on a sample of Greek companies, investigates the ERP market in Greece, the reasons why the Greek companies are investing in ERP systems, the benefits that users have achieved and the influence of ERP systems on the use of new accounting practices. The results indicate a greater level on information integration, flexibility in information access and greater functionality provided by ERP systems but little influence on the use of new accounting practices.
Keywords: Advanced Accounting Practices, EnterpriseResource Planning, Management Accounting.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10489516 Weight Comparison of Oil and Dry Type Distribution Transformers
Authors: Murat Toren, Mehmet Çelebi
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Reducing the weight of transformers while providing good performance, cost reduction and increased efficiency is important. Weight is one of the most significant factors in all electrical machines, and as such, many transformer design parameters are related to weight calculations. This study presents a comparison of the weight of oil type transformers and dry type transformer weight. Oil type transformers are mainly used in industry; however, dry type transformers are becoming more widespread in recent years. MATLAB is typically used for designing transformers and design parameters (rated voltages, core loss, etc.) along with design in ANSYS Maxwell. Similar to other studies, this study presented that the dry type transformer option is limited. Moreover, the commonly-used 50 kVA distribution transformers in the industry are oil type and dry type transformers are designed and considered in terms of weight. Currently, the preference for low-cost oil-type transformers would change if costs for dry-type transformer were more competitive. The aim of this study was to compare the weight of transformers, which is a substantial cost factor, and to provide an evaluation about increasing the use of dry type transformers.
Keywords: Weight, oil-type transformers, dry-type transformers.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3316515 Solutions of Fuzzy Transportation Problem Using Best Candidates Method and Different Ranking Techniques
Authors: M. S. Annie Christi
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Transportation Problem (TP) is based on supply and demand of commodities transported from one source to the different destinations. Usual methods for finding solution of TPs are North-West Corner Rule, Least Cost Method Vogel’s Approximation Method etc. The transportation costs tend to vary at each time. We can use fuzzy numbers which would give solution according to this situation. In this study the Best Candidate Method (BCM) is applied. For ranking Centroid Ranking Technique (CRT) and Robust Ranking Technique have been adopted to transform the fuzzy TP and the above methods are applied to EDWARDS Vacuum Company, Crawley, in West Sussex in the United Kingdom. A Comparative study is also given. We see that the transportation cost can be minimized by the application of CRT under BCM.
Keywords: Best candidates method, centroid ranking technique, robust ranking technique, transportation problem, fuzzy transportation problem.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1573514 Identifying Interactions in a Feeding System
Authors: Jan Busch, Sebastian Schneider, Konja Knüppel, Peter Nyhuis
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In production processes, assembly conceals a considerable potential for increased efficiency in terms of lowering production costs. Due to the individualisation of customer requirements, product variants have increased in recent years. Simultaneously, the portion of automated production systems has increased. A challenge is to adapt the flexibility and adaptability of automated systems to these changes. The Institute for Production Systems and Logistics developed an aerodynamic orientation system for feeding technology. When changing to other components, only four parameters must be adjusted. The expenditure of time for setting parameters is high. An objective therefore is developing an optimisation algorithm for automatic parameter configuration. Know how regarding the interaction of the four parameters and their effect on the sizes to be optimised is required in order to be able to develop a more efficient algorithm. This article introduces an analysis of the interactions between parameters and their influence on the quality of feeding.
Keywords: Aerodynamic feeding system, design of experiments, interactions between parameters.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1738513 Leadership, Corruption, and Governance in Nigeria Since 1960: The Way Forward
Authors: Keke, Reginald Chikere
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This paper examined leadership failure consequent on endemic corruption as being the bane of good governance in Nigeria since independence in 1960 and the way forward. Nigeria is lavishly gifted by nature of abundance in human and material resources to be harnessed a strategic, resolute, ingenious, and inventive leadership. For leadership to drive sustainable growth in society, it must be rooted in the cultural values of the people. This, however, is contrary in Nigeria owing to unscrupulous leadership miscarriage, corruption, and bad governance. Using the eclectic approach, the paper scrutinizes the issues of leadership, corruption, and governance to clearly show how bad leadership and governance have destroyed the national fabric and the way out of Nigeria's development quack mire. Furthermore, this paper examined the perplexing nature of corruption in Nigeria that has made it the only lucrative endeavor for politicians and their cronies, leading Nigeria to be regarded as the world's poverty capital. This paper advocates that Nigerians and the international community must endeavor to enshrine effective leadership and good governance through strong institutions, laws, and individuals who have zero tolerance for corruption and mediocrity in the polity. It is only when this is done that Nigeria will be a better place for present and future generations.
Keywords: Corruption, leadership, governance, Nigeria.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 281512 An Integrated Model of Urban Conservation and Revitalization from the Point of Immigration and Its Effects on Reyhan Urban Site in Turkey as a Case Study
Authors: Ozlem Koprulu Bagbanci, M.Bilal Bagbanci
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This paper presents the effects of migration at the urban sites with an integrated model under the sustainable local development policies for the conservation and revitalization of the site areas as a case at Reyhan heritage site in Bursa. It is known as the “City of immigrants" because of its richness of cultural plurality. The city has always regarded the dynamic impact of immigration as a positive contribution. As a result of this situation, the city created the earliest urbanization practices: being the first capital city of the Ottoman Empire. Bursa created the first modern movement practices and set the first Organized Industrial Zone. The most important aim of the study is to be offer a model for the similar areas with the context of conservation and revitalization of the historical areas, subjected to the local integrated sustainable development policies of local goverments.Keywords: integration, migration, local policies, sustainability.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1739511 Oakes Test and Proportionality Test: Balance between the Practical Costs of Limiting Rights and the Benefits Arising from the Law
Authors: Rafael Tedrus Bento
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The analysis of proportionality as a test is raised as a basic foundation for the achievement of Fundamental Rights. We used legal dogmatics and empirical analysis to seek the expected results, from the reading of the RV Oakes trial by the Supreme Court of Canada. In cases involving freedom of expression, two tests are used to resolve disputes. The first examines whether, in fact, the case can be characterized as a violation of freedom of expression; the second assesses whether this violation can be justified by the reasonable limit clause. This test was defined in the RV Oakes trial by the Supreme Court of Canada, concluding with the Oakes Test, used worldwide as a proportionality test. Resulting is a proportionality between the effects of the limiting measure and the objective - the more serious the harmful effects of a measure, the more important the objective must be.
Keywords: Oakes, proportionality. fundamental rights, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 860510 Introduction of Self-Healing Concrete and Different Methods of Its Scientific Implementation
Authors: Davoud Beheshtizadeh, Davood Jafari
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Concrete, with its unique properties and advantages, has gained widespread and increasing use in the construction industry, particularly in a country's infrastructure. However, concrete exhibits certain defects, most notably the presence of micro-cracks that occur after the setting process, leading to increased costs for infrastructure repair and maintenance. As a result, self-healing concretes have garnered attention in various countries in recent years. These concretes employ different mechanisms for repair, including physical, chemical, biological, and combined approaches, each with its own subsets and implementation methods. Certain mechanisms hold significant importance, leading to specialized production methods. Given the novelty of this subject in Iran, there is limited knowledge or, in some cases, a complete lack of understanding. This paper presents various self-healing concrete mechanisms and the advantages, disadvantages, and application scope of each method.
Keywords: Micro-cracks, self-healing concrete, microcapsules, concrete, cement, self-sensitive.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 241509 Flexural Strength of Alkali Resistant Glass Textile Reinforced Concrete Beam with Prestressing
Authors: Jongho Park, Taekyun Kim, Jungbhin You, Sungnam Hong, Sun-Kyu Park
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Due to the aging of bridges, increasing of maintenance costs and decreasing of structural safety is occurred. The steel corrosion of reinforced concrete bridge is the most common problem and this phenomenon is accelerating due to abnormal weather and increasing CO2 concentration due to climate change. To solve these problems, composite members using textile have been studied. A textile reinforced concrete can reduce carbon emissions by reduced concrete and without steel bars, so a lot of structural behavior studies are needed. Therefore, in this study, textile reinforced concrete beam was made and flexural test was performed. Also, the change of flexural strength according to the prestressing was conducted. As a result, flexural strength of TRC with prestressing was increased compared and flexural behavior was shown as reinforced concrete.
Keywords: AR-glass, flexural strength, prestressing, textile reinforced concrete.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1182508 The Perception of Omani E-consumers on the Importance and Performance of Dubai SMHs' Website Dimensions and Attributes
Authors: Mohammed G. Montasser, Rehab Y. Zoweil
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There is no doubt that Internet technology is widely used by hotels and its demand is constantly booming. Hotels have largely adopted website information services through using different interactive tools, dimensions and attributes to achieve excellence in functionality and usability but these do not necessary equate with website effectiveness. One way to investigate the effectiveness of hotel website is from the perspective ofe-consumers. This exploratory research is to investigate the perceived importance of websites effectiveness of some selected independent small and medium-sized hotels (SMHs) located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from the perspective of Omanie-consumers by using non-random sampling method. From 400 questionnaire addressed to respondents in 27 organizations in Muscat the capital city of Oman, 173 are valid. Findings of this study assist SMHs management in Dubai with the reallocation of their resources and efforts in order to supportebusiness development and to sustain a competitive advantage.
Keywords: Dubai's SMHs, Hotel websites, Omani e-consumer perception, weight and performance evaluation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1785507 Sericulture for Employment Generation among the Tribal- A Study of Two Trible Block of Raigarh Dist. [C.G.] India
Authors: S. K. Dewangan, K. R. Sahu, S. K. Patnayak, S. Soni
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Among many agro- based cottage industries in India sericulture has been promoted as an agro-based, labor intensive, rural oriented cottage industry, providing gainful employment mainly to the weaker and marginalized section of the society specially tribal. Sericulture occupies the place of pride in the rural economy can be practiced even with very low land holding, low gestation, high returns make sericulture an ideal program, requiring little capital investment. In 2010-2011 the employment in sericulture sector was 72.5 lakh persons. The involvement of landless rural people in tasar sericulture is because they understood its potential for rural and tribal upliftment. This article demonstrates that certain developmental initiatives have been playing an important role in the socio-economic progress of tribal masses in Raigarh district and explains the increased returns from sericulture as a result of development programs. The study concludes with some suggestions to improve the long term feasibility of sericulture.
Keywords: Development, Employment, Income, Sericulture, Tribal, Tasar,
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3050506 The Impact of NICTBB in Facilitating the E-Services and M-Services in Tanzania
Authors: S. Pazi, C. Chatwin
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ICT services are a key element of communications and important for socio-economic development. In recognition of the importance of this, the Tanzanian Government started to implement a National ICT Broadband Infrastructure Fibre Optic Backbone (NICTBB) in 2009; this development was planned to be implemented in four phases using an optical dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) network technology in collaboration with the Chinese Government through the Chinese International Telecommunications Construction Corporation (CITCC) under a bilateral agreement. This paper briefly explores the NICTBB network technologies implementation, operations and Internet bandwidth costs. It also provides an in depth assessment of the delivery of ICT services such as e-services and m-services in both urban and rural areas following commissioning of the NICTBB system. Following quantitative and qualitative approaches, the study shows that there have been significant improvements in utilization efficiency, effectiveness and the reliability of the ICT service such as e-services and m-services the NICTCBB was commissioned.
Keywords: NICTBB, DWDM, Optic Fibre, Internet, ICT services, e-services, m-services.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3221505 Quality and Quantity in the Strategic Network of Higher Education Institutions
Authors: Juha Kettunen
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This study analyzes the quality and the size of the strategic network of higher education institutions. The study analyses the concept of fitness for purpose in quality assurance. It also analyses the transaction costs of networking that have consequences on the number of members in the network. Empirical evidence is presented of the Consortium on Applied Research and Professional Education, which is a European strategic network of six higher education institutions. The results of the study support the argument that the number of members in the strategic network should be relatively small to provide high quality results. The practical importance is that networking has been able to promote international research and development projects. The results of this study are important for those who want to design and improve international networks in higher education.
Keywords: Higher education, network, research and development, strategic management.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1519504 Application of Finite Dynamic Programming to Decision Making in the Use of Industrial Residual Water Treatment Plants
Authors: Oscar Vega Camacho, Andrea Vargas Guevara, Ellery Rowina Ariza
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This paper presents the application of finite dynamic programming, specifically the "Markov Chain" model, as part of the decision making process of a company in the cosmetics sector located in the vicinity of Bogota DC. The objective of this process was to decide whether the company should completely reconstruct its wastewater treatment plant or instead optimize the plant through the addition of equipment. The goal of both of these options was to make the required improvements in order to comply with parameters established by national legislation regarding the treatment of waste before it is released into the environment. This technique will allow the company to select the best option and implement a solution for the processing of waste to minimize environmental damage and the acquisition and implementation costs.
Keywords: Decision making, Markov chain, optimization, wastewater.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2014503 Development of an Organizational Knowledge Capabilities Assessment (OKCA) Method for Innovative Technology Enterprises
Authors: C.F. Cheung, Ricky Ma, W.Y. Wong, Y.L. Tse
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Knowledge capabilities are increasingly important for the innovative technology enterprises to enhance the business performance in terms of product competitiveness, innovation and sales. Recognition of the company capability by auditing allows them to further pursue advancement, strategic planning and hence gain competitive advantages. This paper attempts to develop an Organizations- Knowledge Capabilities Assessment (OKCA) method to assess the knowledge capabilities of technology companies. The OKCA is a questionnaire-based assessment tool which has been developed to uncover the impact of various knowledge capabilities on different organizational performance. The collected data is then analyzed to find out the crucial elements for different technological companies. Based on the results, innovative technology enterprises are able to recognize the direction for further improvement on business performance and future development plan. External environmental factors affecting organization performance can be found through the further analysis of some selected reference companies.Keywords: Audit and Assessment, Innovation, Intellectual Capital, Knowledge and Technology Management, Knowledge Capability
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1878502 Performance Prediction Methodology of Slow Aging Assets
Authors: M. Ben Slimene, M.-S. Ouali
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Asset management of urban infrastructures faces a multitude of challenges that need to be overcome to obtain a reliable measurement of performances. Predicting the performance of slowly aging systems is one of those challenges, which helps the asset manager to investigate specific failure modes and to undertake the appropriate maintenance and rehabilitation interventions to avoid catastrophic failures as well as to optimize the maintenance costs. This article presents a methodology for modeling the deterioration of slowly degrading assets based on an operating history. It consists of extracting degradation profiles by grouping together assets that exhibit similar degradation sequences using an unsupervised classification technique derived from artificial intelligence. The obtained clusters are used to build the performance prediction models. This methodology is applied to a sample of a stormwater drainage culvert dataset.
Keywords: Artificial intelligence, clustering, culvert, regression model, slow degradation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 453501 Comparative study of the Genetic Algorithms and Hessians Method for Minimization of the Electric Power Production Cost
Authors: L. Abdelmalek, M. Zerikat, M. Rahli
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In this paper, we present a comparative study of the genetic algorithms and Hessian-s methods for optimal research of the active powers in an electric network of power. The objective function which is the performance index of production of electrical energy is minimized by satisfying the constraints of the equality type and inequality type initially by the Hessian-s methods and in the second time by the genetic Algorithms. The results found by the application of AG for the minimization of the electric production costs of power are very encouraging. The algorithms seem to be an effective technique to solve a great number of problems and which are in constant evolution. Nevertheless it should be specified that the traditional binary representation used for the genetic algorithms creates problems of optimization of management of the large-sized networks with high numerical precision.Keywords: Genetic algorithm, Flow of optimum loadimpedances, Hessians method, Optimal distribution.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1290500 Assessment of Pollution Reduction
Authors: Katarzyna Strzała-Osuch
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Environmental investments, including ecological projects, relating to the protection of atmosphere are today a need. However, investing in the environment should be based on rational management rules. This comes across a problem of selecting a method to assess substances reduced during projects. Therefore, a method allowing for the assessment of decision rationality has to be found. The purpose of this article is to present and systematise pollution reduction assessment methods and illustrate theoretical analyses with empirical data. Empirical results confirm theoretical considerations, which proved that the only method for judging pollution reduction, free of apparent disadvantages, is the Eco 99-ratio method. To make decisions on environmental projects, financing institutions should take into account a rationality rule. Therefore the Eco 99-ratio method could be applied to make decisions relating to environmental investments in the area of air protection.Keywords: Assessment of pollution reduction, costs of environmental protection, efficiency of environmental investments.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1327