Search results for: Objective evaluation

Authors: M.K.Jeya Kumar

Abstract:

Many advanced Routing protocols for wireless sensor networks have been implemented for the effective routing of data. Energy awareness is an essential design issue and almost all of these routing protocols are considered as energy efficient and its ultimate objective is to maximize the whole network lifetime. However, the introductions of video and imaging sensors have posed additional challenges. Transmission of video and imaging data requires both energy and QoS aware routing in order to ensure efficient usage of the sensors and effective access to the gathered measurements. In this paper, the performance of the energy-aware QoS routing Protocol are analyzed in different performance metrics like average lifetime of a node, average delay per packet and network throughput. The parameters considered in this study are end-to-end delay, real time data generation/capture rates, packet drop probability and buffer size. The network throughput for realtime and non-realtime data was also has been analyzed. The simulation has been done in NS2 simulation environment and the simulation results were analyzed with respect to different metrics.

Keywords: Cluster nodes, end-to-end delay, QoS routing, routing protocols, sensor networks, least-cost-path.

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Authors: Yang Laixia, Deng Jun, Li Dichen, Bai Yang

Abstract:

The forming process parameters of Selective Laser Sintering(SLS) directly affect the forming efficiency and forming quality. Therefore, to determine reasonable process parameters is particularly important. In this paper, the weight of each target of the forming quality and efficiency is firstly calculated with the Analytic Hierarchy Process. And then the size of each target is measured by orthogonal experiment. Finally, the sum of the product of each target with the weight is compared to the process parameters in each group and obtained the optimal molding process parameters.

Keywords: Analytic Hierarchy Process, Multi-objective optimization, Orthogonal test, Selective Laser Sintering

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Authors: Faisal Aburub, Wael Hadi

Abstract:

Data mining is the process of extracting useful or hidden information from a large database. Extracted information can be used to discover relationships among features, where data objects are grouped according to logical relationships; or to predict unseen objects to one of the predefined groups. In this paper, we aim to investigate four well-known data mining algorithms in order to predict groundwater areas in Jordan. These algorithms are Support Vector Machines (SVMs), Naïve Bayes (NB), K-Nearest Neighbor (kNN) and Classification Based on Association Rule (CBA). The experimental results indicate that the SVMs algorithm outperformed other algorithms in terms of classification accuracy, precision and F1 evaluation measures using the datasets of groundwater areas that were collected from Jordanian Ministry of Water and Irrigation.

Keywords: Classification, data mining, evaluation measures, groundwater.

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Authors: Kittipong Tissayakorn, Fumio Akagi, Yu Song

Abstract:

Manufacturers have been exploring innovative strategies to achieve and sustain competitive advantages as they face a new era of intensive global competition. Such strategy is known as Supply Chain Management (SCM), which has gained a tremendous amount of attention from both researchers and practitioners over the last decade. Supply chain management (SCM) is considered as the most popular operating strategy for improving organizational competitiveness in the twenty-first century. It has attracted a lot of attention recently due to its role involving all of the activities in industrial organizations, ranging from raw material procurement to final product delivery to customers. Well-designed supply chain systems can substantially improve efficiency and product quality, and eventually enhance customer satisfaction and profitability. In this paper, a manufacturing engineering perspective on supply chain integration is presented. Research issues discussed include the product and process design for the supply chain, design evaluation of manufacturing in the supply chain, agent-based techniques for supply chain integration, intelligent information for sharing across the supply chain, and a development of standards for product, process, and production data exchange to facilitate electronic commerce. The objective is to provide guidelines and references for manufacturing engineers and researchers interested in supply chain integration.

Keywords: Supply Chain, Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Integration, Manufacturing Industries.

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Authors: Dong Xie, Leah Howard, Yiming Weng

Abstract:

The objective of this study was to synthesize and characterize 5-acryloyloxy-3,4-dichlorocrotonolactone (a furanone derivative), use this derivative to modify a dental restorative, and study the effect of the derivative on the antibacterial activity and compressive strength of the formed restorative. In this study, a furanone derivative was synthesized, characterized, and used to formulate a dental restorative. Compressive strength (CS) and S. mutans viability were used to evaluate the mechanical strength and antibacterial activity of the formed restorative. The fabricated restorative specimens were photocured and conditioned in distilled water at 37^oC for 24 h, followed by direct testing for CS or/and incubating with S. mutans for 48 h for antibacterial testing. The results show that the modified dental restorative showed a significant antibacterial activity without substantially decreasing the mechanical strengths. With addition of the antibacterial derivative up to 30%, the restorative kept its original CS nearly unchanged but showed a significant antibacterial activity with 68% reduction in the S. mutans viability. Furthermore, the antibacterial function of the modified restorative was not affected by human saliva. The aging study also indicates that the modified restorative may have a long-lasting antibacterial function. It is concluded that this experimental antibacterial restorative may potentially be developed into a clinically attractive dental filling restorative due to its high mechanical strength and antibacterial function.

Keywords: Antibacterial, dental filling restorative, compressive strength, S. mutans viability.

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Authors: Mouna Benfssahi, Zoubir El Felsoufi

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For many enterprises, the delocalization of a part or the totality of their supply chain to low cost countries is the best way to reduce costs and remain competitive against the growing globalized market. This new tendency is driven by logistics advantages, as well as, financial and tax discount offered by the host countries. The objective of this article is to examine the new financial challenges introduced by the project of base erosion and profits shifting (BEPS), published in 2015, and also their impact on the decision of delocalization. In fact, the strategy adopted by multinational firms for determining the transfer price (TP) of goods and services, as well as the shared amount of revenues and expenses have a major impact upon group profit and may contribute to divergent results. In order to get more profit, a coherent decision of delocalization should be based on an evaluation of all the operational and financial characteristics associated with such movement. Therefore, it is interesting to model these new constraints and integrate them in a more global decision model. The established model will enable to measure how much these financial constraints impact the decision of delocalization and will give new helpful directives for enterprise managers.

Keywords: Delocalization, intragroup transaction, multinational firms, optimization model, supply chain management, transfer pricing.

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Authors: Nathar Shah, Bu Kiat Seng

Abstract:

Mobile application development is different from regular application development due to the hardware resource limitations existed in the mobile platforms. In the mobile environment, the application needs to be optimized by the developer to produce optimal software with least overhead. This study discussed about performance optimization techniques that are employed in general application development, and how such techniques are performing on mobile platforms through some empirical evaluations on a mobile emulator, Nokia X3-02 and Nokia C5-03devices. The scope of the work is only confined to mobile platform based on Java Mobile edition architecture. The empirical results showed that techniques such as loop unrolling, dependency chain, and linearized getter and setter performed better by a factor of 3 to 7. Whereas declaration and initialization on the same line or separate line did not improve the performance.

Keywords: Optimization Techniques, Mobile Applications, Performance Evaluation, J2ME, Empirical Experiments

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Authors: Nedeljko Cvejic, Artur Łoza, David Bull, Nishan Canagarajah

Abstract:

In this paper, we present a novel objective nonreference performance assessment algorithm for image fusion. It takes into account local measurements to estimate how well the important information in the source images is represented by the fused image. The metric is based on the Universal Image Quality Index and uses the similarity between blocks of pixels in the input images and the fused image as the weighting factors for the metrics. Experimental results confirm that the values of the proposed metrics correlate well with the subjective quality of the fused images, giving a significant improvement over standard measures based on mean squared error and mutual information.

Keywords: Fusion performance measures, image fusion, nonreferencequality measures, objective quality measures.

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Authors: Sadife Güngör, Sevilay Konya, Zeynep Karaçor

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Inflation and foreign trade are the most important economic indicator of a country. In this study, Turkey's economy with the policies adopted after 2000, given how performs an economic transformation. This transformation of the economy is discussed with inflation and foreign trade. In this context, attention is drawn to 2001 Strong Economy and Transition Program and 2006 Inflation Targeting Regime. The evaluation was performed of after the year 2000 inflation and foreign trade figures in Turkey economy. When we looked the progress, after 2000 in Turkey economy, we can say a new process was built up.

Keywords: Inflation, foreign trade, 2001 strong economy program, 2006 ınflation targeting regime.

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Authors: A.Mosavi

Abstract:

A novel methodology has been used to design an evaporator coil of a refrigerant. The methodology used is through a complete Computer Aided Design /Computer Aided Engineering approach, by means of a Computational Fluid Dynamic/Finite Element Analysis model which is executed many times for the thermal-fluid exploration of several designs' configuration by an commercial optimizer. Hence the design is carried out automatically by parallel computations, with an optimization package taking the decisions rather than the design engineer. The engineer instead takes decision regarding the physical settings and initializing of the computational models to employ, the number and the extension of the geometrical parameters of the coil fins and the optimization tools to be employed. The final design of the coil geometry found to be better than the initial design.

Keywords: Multi-objective shape optimization, Heat Transfer, multi-physics structures, modeFRONTIER

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Authors: R.M.V. Silva, D.N. Souza

Abstract:

This paper presents a model for the characterization and selection of beeswaxes for use as base substitute tissue for the manufacture of objects suitable for external radiotherapy using megavoltage photon beams. The model of characterization was divided into three distinct stages: 1) verification of aspects related to the origin of the beeswax, the bee species, the flora in the vicinity of the beehives and procedures to detect adulterations; 2) evaluation of physical and chemical properties; and 3) evaluation of beam attenuation capacity. The chemical composition of the beeswax evaluated in this study was similar to other simulators commonly used in radiotherapy. The behavior of the mass attenuation coefficient in the radiotherapy energy range was comparable to other simulators. The proposed model is efficient and enables convenient assessment of the use of any particular beeswax as a base substitute tissue for radiotherapy.

Keywords: Beeswaxes, characterization, model, radiotherapy

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Authors: Tomas Cechura, Michal Simon

Abstract:

This paper describes a proposal for cost calculation of warehouse processes and its usage for setting standards for performance evaluation. One of the most common options of monitoring process performance is benchmarking. The typical outcome is whether the monitored object is better or worse than an average or standard. Traditional approaches, however, cannot find any specific opportunities to improve performance or eliminate inefficiencies in processes. Higher process efficiency can be achieved for example by cost reduction assuming that the same output is generated. However, costs can be reduced only if we know their structure and we are able to calculate them accurately. In the warehouse process area it is rather difficult because in most cases we have available only aggregated values with low explanatory ability. The aim of this paper is to create a suitable method for calculating the storage costs. At the end is shown a practical example of process calculation.

Keywords: Calculation, Costs, Performance, Process, Warehouse.

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Authors: Marzieh Asgarnezhad, Ramin Nasiri, Abdollah Shahidi

Abstract:

The successful implementation of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is not confined to Information Technology systems and required changes of the whole enterprise. In order to adapt IT and business, the enterprise requires adequate and measurable methods. The adoption of SOA creates new problem with regard to measuring and analysis the performance. In fact the enterprise should investigate to what extent the development of services will increase the value of business. It is required for every business to measure the extent of SOA adaptation with the goals of enterprise. Moreover, precise performance metrics and their combination with the advanced evaluation methodologies as a solution should be defined. The aim of this paper is to present a systematic methodology for designing a measurement system at the technical and business levels, so that: (1) it will determine measurement metrics precisely (2) the results will be analysed by mapping identified metrics to the measurement tools.

Keywords: Service-oriented architecture, metrics, performance, evaluation.

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Authors: Bu Seog Ju, Woo Young Jung

Abstract:

The cost of damage to the non-structural systems in critical facilities like nuclear power plants and hospitals can exceed 80% of the total cost of damage during an earthquake. The failure of nonstructural components, especially, piping systems led to leakage of water and subsequent shut-down of hospitals immediately after the event. Consequently, the evaluation of performance of these types of structural configurations has become necessary to mitigate the risk and to achieve reliable designs. This paper focuses on a methodology to evaluate the static and dynamic characteristics of complex actual piping system based on NFPA-13 and SMACNA guidelines. The result of this study revealed that current piping system subjected to design lateral force and design spectrum based on UBC-97 was failed in both cases and mode shapes between piping system and building structure were very different

Keywords: Nonstructural component, piping, hospital, seismic, bracing.

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Authors: G. Meccariello, L. Della Ragione

Abstract:

The exposure to outdoor air pollution causes lung cancer and increases the risk of bladder cancer. Because air pollution in urban areas is mainly caused by transportation, it is necessary to evaluate pollutant exhaust emissions from vehicles during their realworld use. Nevertheless their evaluation and reduction is a key problem, especially in the cities, that account for more than 50% of world population. A particular attention was given to the slope variability along the streets during each journey performed by the instrumented vehicle. In this paper we dealt with the problem of describing a quantitatively approach for the reconstruction of GPS coordinates and altitude, in the context of correlation study between driving cycles / emission / geographical location, during an experimental campaign realized with some instrumented cars. Finally the slope analysis can be correlated to the emission and consumption values in a specific road position, and it could be evaluated its influence on their behaviour.

Keywords: Air pollution, Driving cycles, GPS signal, Slope, Emission factor, fuel consumption.

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Authors: Weiming Hu, Xu Li, Xiaonan Li, Zhong Xu, Li Yuan, Xuan Dong

Abstract:

Maneuver decision-making plays a critical role in high-performance intelligent driving. This paper proposes a risk assessment-based decision-making network (RADMN) to address the problem of driving strategy for the commercial vehicle. RADMN integrates two networks, aiming at identifying the risk degree of collision and rollover and providing decisions to ensure the effectiveness and reliability of driving strategy. In the risk assessment module, risk degrees of the backward collision, forward collision and rollover are quantified for hazard recognition. In the decision module, a deep reinforcement learning based on multi-objective optimization (DRL-MOO) algorithm is designed, which comprehensively considers the risk degree and motion states of each traffic participant. To evaluate the performance of the proposed framework, Prescan/Simulink joint simulation was conducted in highway scenarios. Experimental results validate the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed RADMN. The output driving strategy can guarantee the safety and provide key technical support for the realization of autonomous driving of commercial vehicles.

Keywords: Decision-making strategy, risk assessment, multi-objective optimization, commercial vehicle.

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Authors: Farhad Kolahan, Vahid Kayvanfar

Abstract:

In this paper we address a multi-objective scheduling problem for unrelated parallel machines. In unrelated parallel systems, the processing cost/time of a given job on different machines may vary. The objective of scheduling is to simultaneously determine the job-machine assignment and job sequencing on each machine. In such a way the total cost of the schedule is minimized. The cost function consists of three components, namely; machining cost, earliness/tardiness penalties and makespan related cost. Such scheduling problem is combinatorial in nature. Therefore, a Simulated Annealing approach is employed to provide good solutions within reasonable computational times. Computational results show that the proposed approach can efficiently solve such complicated problems.

Keywords: Makespan, Parallel machines, Scheduling, Simulated Annealing

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Authors: Rajoo Balaji, Omar Yaakob

Abstract:

The Ballast Water Convention requires less than 5% of the world tonnage for ratification. Consequently, ships will have to comply with the requirements. Compliance evaluation and enforcement will become mandatory. Ship owners have to invest in treatment systems and shipboard personnel have to operate them and ensure compliance. The monitoring and enforcement will be the responsibilities of the Administrations. Herein, a review of the current status of the Ballast Water Management and the issues faced by these are projected. Issues range from efficacy and economics of the treatment systems to sampling and testing. Health issues of chemical systems, paucity of data for decision support etc., are other issues. It is emphasized that management of ballast water must be extended to ashore and sustainable solutions must be researched upon. An exemplar treatment system based on ship’s waste heat is also suggested.

Keywords: Ballast water management, Compliance evaluation, Compliance enforcement, Sustainability.

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Authors: M. S. Osman, A. A. Tharwat, I. A. El-Khodary, A. G. Chalabi

Abstract:

In this paper, we propose a multiple objective optimization model with respect to portfolio selection problem for investors looking forward to diversify their equity investments in a number of equity markets. Based on Markowitz-s M-V model we developed a Fuzzy Mixed Integer Multi-Objective Nonlinear Programming Problem (FMIMONLP) to maximize the investors- future gains on equity markets, reach the optimal proportion of the budget to be invested in different equities. A numerical example with a comprehensive analysis on artificial data from several equity markets is presented in order to illustrate the proposed model and its solution method. The model performed well compared with the deterministic version of the model.

Keywords: Equity Markets, Future Scenarios, PortfolioSelection, Multiple Criteria Fuzzy Optimization

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Authors: Jenny Paola Forero Pachón, Sonia Cristina Gamboa Sarmiento, Luis Carlos Gómez Flórez

Abstract:

The Colombian government has defined an e-government strategy to take advantage of Information Technologies (IT) in order to contribute to the building of a more efficient, transparent and participative State that provides better services to citizens and businesses. In this regard, the Justice sector is one of the government sectors where IT has generated more expectation considering that the country has a judicial processes backlog. This situation has led to the search for alternative forms of access to justice that speed up the process while providing a low cost for citizens. To this end, the Colombian government has authorized the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution methods (ADR), a remedy where disputes can be resolved more quickly compared to judicial processes while facilitating greater communication between the parties, without recourse to judicial authority. One of these methods is conciliation, which includes a special modality that takes advantage of IT for the development of itself known as virtual conciliation. With this option the conciliation is supported by information systems, applications or platforms and communications are provided through it. This paper evaluates the level of maturity in how the service of virtual conciliation is under the framework of this strategy. This evaluation is carried out considering Shahkooh's 5-phase model for e-government. As a result, it is evident that in the context of conciliation, maturity does not reach the necessary level in the model so that it can be considered as virtual conciliation; therefore, it is necessary to define strategies to maximize the potential of IT in this context.

Keywords: Alternative dispute resolution, e-government, evaluation of maturity, Shahkooh model, virtual conciliation.

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Authors: Orkide Donma, Mustafa M. Donma

Abstract:

Basal metabolic rate (BMR) is widely used and an accepted measure of energy expenditure. Its principal determinant is body mass. However, this parameter is also correlated with a variety of other factors. The objective of this study is to measure BMR and compare it with the values obtained from predictive equations in adults classified according to their body mass index (BMI) values. 276 adults were included into the scope of this study. Their age, height and weight values were recorded. Five groups were designed based on their BMI values. First group (n = 85) was composed of individuals with BMI values varying between 18.5 and 24.9 kg/m². Those with BMI values varying from 25.0 to 29.9 kg/m² constituted Group 2 (n = 90). Individuals with 30.0-34.9 kg/m², 35.0-39.9 kg/m², > 40.0 kg/m² were included in Group 3 (n = 53), 4 (n = 28) and 5 (n = 20), respectively. The most commonly used equations to be compared with the measured BMR values were selected. For this purpose, the values were calculated by the use of four equations to predict BMR values, by name, introduced by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/World Health Organization (WHO)/United Nations University (UNU), Harris and Benedict, Owen and Mifflin. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, post-Hoc Tukey and Pearson’s correlation tests were performed by a statistical program designed for Windows (SPSS, version 16.0). p values smaller than 0.05 were accepted as statistically significant. Mean ± SD of groups 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 for measured BMR in kcal were 1440.3 ± 210.0, 1618.8 ± 268.6, 1741.1 ± 345.2, 1853.1 ± 351.2 and 2028.0 ± 412.1, respectively. Upon evaluation of the comparison of means among groups, differences were highly significant between Group 1 and each of the remaining four groups. The values were increasing from Group 2 to Group 5. However, differences between Group 2 and Group 3, Group 3 and Group 4, Group 4 and Group 5 were not statistically significant. These insignificances were lost in predictive equations proposed by Harris and Benedict, FAO/WHO/UNU and Owen. For Mifflin, the insignificance was limited only to Group 4 and Group 5. Upon evaluation of the correlations of measured BMR and the estimated values computed from prediction equations, the lowest correlations between measured BMR and estimated BMR values were observed among the individuals within normal BMI range. The highest correlations were detected in individuals with BMI values varying between 30.0 and 34.9 kg/m². Correlations between measured BMR values and BMR values calculated by FAO/WHO/UNU as well as Owen were the same and the highest. In all groups, the highest correlations were observed between BMR values calculated from Mifflin and Harris and Benedict equations using age as an additional parameter. In conclusion, the unique resemblance of the FAO/WHO/UNU and Owen equations were pointed out. However, mean values obtained from FAO/WHO/UNU were much closer to the measured BMR values. Besides, the highest correlations were found between BMR calculated from FAO/WHO/UNU and measured BMR. These findings suggested that FAO/WHO/UNU was the most reliable equation, which may be used in conditions when the measured BMR values are not available.

Keywords: Adult, basal metabolic rate, FAO/WHO/UNU, obesity, prediction equations.

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Authors: S. Kikuchi, Y. Hashimoto, T. Takayama, T. Ikeda, Y. Murata

Abstract:

Recently, lots of researchers are attracted to retrieving multimedia database by using some impression words and their values. Ikezoe-s research is one of the representatives and uses eight pairs of opposite impression words. We had modified its retrieval interface and proposed '2D-RIB'. In '2D-RIB', after a retrieval person selects a single basic music, the system visually shows some other music around the basic one along relative position. He/she can select one of them fitting to his/her intention, as a retrieval result. The purpose of this paper is to improve his/her satisfaction level to the retrieval result in 2D-RIB. One of our extensions is to define and introduce the following two measures: 'melody goodness' and 'general acceptance'. We implement them in different five combinations. According to an evaluation experiment, both of these two measures can contribute to the improvement. Another extension is three types of customization. We have implemented them and clarified which customization is effective.

Keywords: Multimedia database, impression-based retrieval, interface, satisfaction level.

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Authors: Stuart Palmer, Dale Holt

Abstract:

Based on 276 responses from academic staff in an evaluation of an online learning environment (OLE), this paper identifies those elements of the OLE that were most used and valued by staff, those elements of the OLE that staff most wanted to see improved, and those factors that most contributed to staff perceptions that the use of the OLE enhanced their teaching. The most used and valued elements were core functions, including accessing unit information, accessing lecture/tutorial/lab notes, and reading online discussions. The elements identified as most needing attention related to online assessment: submitting assignments, managing assessment items, and receiving feedback on assignments. Staff felt that using the OLE enhanced their teaching when they were satisfied that their students were able to access and use their learning materials, and when they were satisfied with the professional development they received and were confident with their ability to teach with the OLE.

Keywords: Academic staff, Distance education, Evaluation, Online learning environment.

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Authors: Wuttigrai Ngamsirijit, Yodmanee Tepanon

Abstract:

Transportation is one of the main activities related to creating value for the tourists. Transport management in tourism mainly focuses on managing transfer points and vehicle capacity. However, transport service level must also be ensured as it now relates to tourist-s experiences. This paper emphasizes on the responsiveness as one of key service performance measures. An evaluation framework is developed and illustarted by using the case of small bus service in Pattaya city. It can be seen as a great potential for the city to utilize the small bus transportation in order to meet the needs of more diverse group of passengers and to support the expansion of tourist areas. The framework integrates with service operations management, logistics, and tourism behavior perspectives. The findings from the investigation of existing small bus service are presented and preliminarily validate the usability of the framework.

Keywords: Responsiveness, Demand responsive transportation, Tourism, Logistics

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Authors: Malinda G. Sirisena

Abstract:

The aim of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of software quality assurance approaches of Sri Lankan offshore software development organizations, and to propose a framework which could be used across all offshore software development organizations.

An empirical study was conducted using derived framework from popular software quality evaluation models. The research instrument employed was a questionnaire survey among thirty seven Sri Lankan registered offshore software development organizations.

The findings demonstrate a positive view of Effectiveness of Software Quality Assurance – the stronger predictors of Stability, Installability, Correctness, Testability and Changeability. The present study’s recommendations indicate a need for much emphasis on software quality assurance for the Sri Lankan offshore software development organizations.

Keywords: Software Quality Assurance (SQA), Offshore Software Development, Quality Assurance Evaluation Models, Effectiveness of Quality Assurance.

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Authors: T. C. Chu, S.H. Wu

Abstract:

This paper suggests ranking alternatives under fuzzy MCDM (multiple criteria decision making) via an centroid based ranking approach, where criteria are classified to benefit qualitative, benefit quantitative and cost quantitative ones. The ratings of alternatives versus qualitative criteria and the importance weights of all criteria are assessed in linguistic values represented by fuzzy numbers. The membership function for the final fuzzy evaluation value of each alternative can be developed through α-cuts and interval arithmetic of fuzzy numbers. The distance between the original point and the relative centroid is applied to defuzzify the final fuzzy evaluation values in order to rank alternatives. Finally a numerical example demonstrates the computation procedure of the proposed model.

Keywords: Fuzzy MCDM, Criteria, Fuzzy number, Ranking, Relative centroid.

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Authors: P. Heribanová, J. Polec, S. Ondrušová, M. Hosťovecký

Abstract:

This paper discusses the cued speech recognition methods in videoconference. Cued speech is a specific gesture language that is used for communication between deaf people. We define the criteria for sentence intelligibility according to answers of testing subjects (deaf people). In our tests we use 30 sample videos coded by H.264 codec with various bit-rates and various speed of cued speech. Additionally, we define the criteria for consonant sign recognizability in single-handed finger alphabet (dactyl) analogically to acoustics. We use another 12 sample videos coded by H.264 codec with various bit-rates in four different video formats. To interpret the results we apply the standard scale for subjective video quality evaluation and the percentual evaluation of intelligibility as in acoustics. From the results we construct the minimum coded bit-rate recommendations for every spatial resolution.

Keywords: cued speech, inteligibility, logatom, video

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Authors: Yuan-Jye Tseng, Yen-Jung Wang

Abstract:

A product development for green logistics model using the fuzzy analytic network process method is presented for evaluating the relationships among the product design, the manufacturing activities, and the green supply chain. In the product development stage, there can be alternative ways to design the detailed components to satisfy the design concept and product requirement. In different design alternative cases, the manufacturing activities can be different. In addition, the manufacturing activities can affect the green supply chain of the components and product. In this research, a fuzzy analytic network process evaluation model is presented for evaluating the criteria in product design, manufacturing activities, and green supply chain. The comparison matrices for evaluating the criteria among the three groups are established. The total relational values between the three groups represent the relationships and effects. In application, the total relational values can be used to evaluate the design alternative cases for decision-making to select a suitable design case and the green supply chain. In this presentation, an example product is illustrated. It shows that the model is useful for integrated evaluation of design and manufacturing and green supply chain for the purpose of product development for green logistics.

Keywords: Supply chain management, green supply chain, product development for logistics, fuzzy analytic network process.

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Authors: Fernando Augusto Ullmann Tobe, Moacyr Amaral Domingues, Figueiredo, Stephany Rie Yamamoto Gushiken

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to present the process of elaborating the layout of an assembly line of a welding industry using the principles of lean manufacturing as the main driver. The objective of this paper is relevant since the current layout of the assembly line causes non-productive times for operators, being related to the lean waste of unnecessary movements. The methodology used for the project development was Project-based Learning (PBL), which is an active way of learning focused on real problems. The process of selecting the methodology for layout planning was developed considering three criteria to evaluate the most relevant one for this paper's goal. As a result of this evaluation, Systematic Layout Planning was selected, and three steps were added to it – Value Stream Mapping for the current situation and after layout changed and the definition of lean tools and layout type. This inclusion was to consider lean manufacturing in the layout redesign of the industry. The layout change resulted in an increase in the value-adding time of operations carried out in the sector, reduction in movement times between previous and final assemblies, and in cost savings regarding the man-hour value of the employees, which can be invested in productive hours instead of movement times.

Keywords: Assembly line, layout, lean manufacturing, systematic layout planning.

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Authors: Manpreet Singh, V. P. Agrawal, Gurmanjot Singh Bhatti

Abstract:

From the last decades, there is a significant technological advancement in the field of robotics, and a number of modular self-reconfigurable robots were introduced that can help in space exploration, bucket to stuff, search, and rescue operation during earthquake, etc. As there are numbers of self-reconfigurable robots, choosing the optimum one is always a concern for robot user since there is an increase in available features, facilities, complexity, etc. The objective of this research work is to present a multiple attribute decision making based methodology for coding, evaluation, comparison ranking and selection of modular self-reconfigurable robots using a technique for order preferences by similarity to ideal solution approach. However, 86 attributes that affect the structure and performance are identified. A database for modular self-reconfigurable robot on the basis of different pertinent attribute is generated. This database is very useful for the user, for selecting a robot that suits their operational needs. Two visual methods namely linear graph and spider chart are proposed for ranking of modular self-reconfigurable robots. Using five robots (Atron, Smores, Polybot, M-Tran 3, Superbot), an example is illustrated, and raking of the robots is successfully done, which shows that Smores is the best robot for the operational need illustrated, and this methodology is found to be very effective and simple to use.

Keywords: Self-reconfigurable robots, MADM, TOPSIS, morphogenesis, scalability.

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