Search results for: climatic factors

Authors: Roman Graf, Sergiu Gordea, Heather M. Ryan

Abstract:

This paper presents an approach for easy creation and classification of institutional risk profiles supporting endangerment analysis of file formats. The main contribution of this work is the employment of data mining techniques to support set up of the most important risk factors. Subsequently, risk profiles employ risk factors classifier and associated configurations to support digital preservation experts with a semi-automatic estimation of endangerment group for file format risk profiles. Our goal is to make use of an expert knowledge base, accuired through a digital preservation survey in order to detect preservation risks for a particular institution. Another contribution is support for visualisation of risk factors for a requried dimension for analysis. Using the naive Bayes method, the decision support system recommends to an expert the matching risk profile group for the previously selected institutional risk profile. The proposed methods improve the visibility of risk factor values and the quality of a digital preservation process. The presented approach is designed to facilitate decision making for the preservation of digital content in libraries and archives using domain expert knowledge and values of file format risk profiles. To facilitate decision-making, the aggregated information about the risk factors is presented as a multidimensional vector. The goal is to visualise particular dimensions of this vector for analysis by an expert and to define its profile group. The sample risk profile calculation and the visualisation of some risk factor dimensions is presented in the evaluation section.

Keywords: linked open data, information integration, digital libraries, data mining.

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Authors: Helena Vomackova

Abstract:

This contribution examines the relationship between the family environment and the level of young pupils’ scholastic success. It comments on the partial results of a research probe carried out in the year 2012 on a sample of 412 Czech Republic primary school pupils of the fourth, fifth and sixths forms within the Project IGA 43 201 15 0004 01. The key links of this project were monitored in relation to the highest education level achieved by the learners´ parents, as well as to the type of family it is (in particular its ability to function), to component factors specific to the family climate (their willingness to share information, communication, parental control) and, finally, to the number of children in the family as an important socialization constituent.

Keywords: Family environment factors, scholastic success, parents’ education, family type, family climate.

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Authors: Victoria L. Nkosi, Parvaneh Farhangpour

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Often a Grade 12 certificate is perceived as a passport to tertiary education and the minimum requirement to enter the world of work. In spite of its importance, many students do not make this milestone in South Africa. It is important to find out why so many students still fail in spite of transformation in the education system in the post-apartheid era. Given the complexity of education and its context, this study adopted a case study design to examine one historically underperforming high school in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa in 2013. The aim was to gain a understanding of the inner and outer school contextual factors associated with the high failure rate among Grade 12 students.  Government documents and reports were consulted to identify factors in the district and the village surrounding the school and a student survey was conducted to identify school, home and student factors. The randomly-sampled half of the population of Grade 12 students (53) participated in the survey and quantitative data are analyzed using descriptive statistical methods. The findings showed that a host of factors is at play. The school is located in a village within a municipality which has been one of the poorest three municipalities in South Africa and the lowest Grade 12 pass rate in the Mpumalanga province.   Moreover, over half of the families of the students are single parents, 43% are unemployed and the majority has a low level of education. In addition, most families (83%) do not have basic study materials such as a dictionary, books, tables, and chairs. A significant number of students (70%) are over-aged (+19 years old); close to half of them (49%) are grade repeaters. The school itself lacks essential resources, namely computers, science laboratories, library, and enough furniture and textbooks. Moreover, teaching and learning are negatively affected by the teachers’ occasional absenteeism, inadequate lesson preparation, and poor communication skills. Overall, the continuous low performance of students in this school mirrors the vicious circle of multiple negative conditions present within and outside of the school. The complexity of factors associated with the underperformance of Grade 12 students in this school calls for a multi-dimensional intervention from government and stakeholders. One important intervention should be the placement of over-aged students and grade-repeaters in suitable educational institutions for the benefit of other students.

Keywords: Inner context, outer context, over-aged students, vicious circle.

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Authors: Adam L. Yanagihara, Yong Seok Park

Abstract:

The goal of this paper is to converge upon a design of a brake system that could be used for a roller coaster found at an amusement park. It was necessary to find what could be deemed as a “comfortable” deceleration so that passengers do not feel as if they are suddenly jerked and pressed against the restraining harnesses. A human factors engineering approach was taken in order to determine this deceleration. Using a previous study that tested the deceleration of transit vehicles, it was found that a -0.45 G deceleration would be used as a design requirement to build this system around. An adjustable linear eddy current brake using permanent magnets would be the ideal system to use in order to meet this design requirement. Anthropometric data were then used to determine a realistic weight and length of the roller coaster that the brake was being designed for. The weight and length data were then factored into magnetic brake force equations. These equations were used to determine how the brake system and the brake run layout would be designed. A final design for the brake was determined and it was found that a total of 12 brakes would be needed with a maximum braking distance of 53.6 m in order to stop a roller coaster travelling at its top speed and loaded to maximum capacity. This design is derived from theoretical calculations, but is within the realm of feasibility.

Keywords: Eddy current brake, engineering design, human factors engineering.

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Authors: Giwrgos S. Gkarmpounis, Aikaterini G. Rokkou, Marios N. Moschakis

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Increased energy consumption in the academic buildings, creates the need to implement energy saving measures and to take advantage of the renewable energy sources to cover the electrical needs of those buildings. An Academic Library will be used as a case study. With the aid of RETScreen software that takes into account the energy consumptions and characteristics of the Library Building, it is proved that measures such as the replacement of fluorescent lights with led lights, the installation of outdoor shading, the replacement of the openings and Building Management System installation, provide a high level of energy savings. Moreover, given the available space of the building and the climatic data, the installation of a photovoltaic system of 100 kW can also cover a serious amount of the building energy consumption, unlike a wind system that seems uncompromising. Lastly, HOMER software is used to compare the use of a photovoltaic system against a wind system in order to verify the results that came up from the RETScreen software concerning the renewable energy sources.

Keywords: Energy saving measures, homer software, renewable energy sources, RETScreen software, energy efficiency and quality.

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Authors: Susmita Ghosh, Bhaskar Bhowmick

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Market is an important factor for start-ups to look into during decision-making in product development and related areas. Emerging country markets are more uncertain in terms of information availability and institutional supports. The literature review of market uncertainty reveals the need for identifying factors representing the market uncertainty. This paper identifies factors for market uncertainty using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and confirmed the number of factor retention using an alternative factor retention criterion ‘Parallel Analysis’. 500 entrepreneurs, engaged in start-ups from all over India participated in the study. This paper concludes with the factor structure of ‘market uncertainty’ having dimensions of uncertainty in industry orientation, uncertainty in customer orientation and uncertainty in marketing orientation.

Keywords: Uncertainty, market, orientation, competitor, demand.

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Authors: Yusuf Garba Baba

Abstract:

The construction industry and housing subsector are fraught with risks that have the potential of negatively impacting on the achievement of project objectives. The success or otherwise of most construction projects depends to large extent on how well these risks have been managed. The recent paradigm shift by the subsector to use of formal risk management approach in contrast to hitherto developed rules of thumb means that risks must not only be identified but also properly assessed and responded to in a systematic manner. The study focused on identifying risks associated with housing development projects and prioritisation assessment of the identified risks in order to provide basis for informed decision. The study used a three-step identification framework: review of literature for similar projects, expert consultation and questionnaire based survey to identify potential risk factors. Delphi survey method was employed in carrying out the relative prioritization assessment of the risks factors using computer-based Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) software. The results show that 19 out of the 50 risks significantly impact on housing development projects. The study concludes that although significant numbers of risk factors have been identified as having relevance and impacting to housing construction projects, economic risk group and, in particular, ‘changes in demand for houses’ is prioritised by most developers as posing a threat to the achievement of their housing development objectives. Unless these risks are carefully managed, their effects will continue to impede success in these projects. The study recommends the adoption and use of the combination of multi-technique identification framework and AHP prioritization assessment methodology as a suitable model for the assessment of risks in housing development projects.

Keywords: Risk identification, risk assessment, analytical hierarchical process, multi-criteria decision.

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Authors: Ekta Singh

Abstract:

Indices summarizing community structure are used to evaluate fundamental community ecology, species interaction, biogeographical factors, and environmental stress. Some of these indices are insensitive to gross community changes induced by contaminants of pollution. Diversity indices and similarity indices are reviewed considering their ecological application, both theoretical and practical. For some useful indices, empirical equations are given to calculate the expected maximum value of the indices to which the observed values can be related at any combination of sample sizes at the experimental sites. This paper examines the effects of sample size and diversity on the expected values of diversity indices and similarity indices, using various formulae. It has been shown that all indices are strongly affected by sample size and diversity. In some indices, this influence is greater than the others and an attempt has been made to deal with these influences.

Keywords: Biogeographical factors, Diversity Indices, Ecology and Similarity Indices

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Authors: Ravinder Kataria, Jatinder Kumar, B. S. Pabla

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Ultrasonic machining is one of the most widely used non-traditional machining processes for machining of materials that are relatively brittle, hard, and fragile such as advanced ceramics, refractories, crystals, quartz etc. Present article has been targeted at investigating the impact of different experimental conditions (power rating, cobalt content, tool material, thickness of work piece, tool geometry, and abrasive grit size) on over cut in ultrasonic drilling of WC-Co composite material. Taguchi’s L-36 orthogonal array has been employed for conducting the experiments. Significant factors have been identified using analysis of variance (ANOVA) test. The experimental results revealed that abrasive grit size and tool material are most significant factors for over cut.

Keywords: ANOVA, Abrasive grit size, Taguchi, WC-Co, ultrasonic machining.

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Authors: Abegunde Linda, Adedeji Oluwatola, Tope-Ajayi Opeyemi

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Maize constitutes a major agrarian production for use by the vast population but despite its economic importance; it has not been produced to meet the economic needs of the country. Achieving optimum yield in maize can meaningfully be supported by land suitability analysis in order to guarantee self-sufficiency for future production optimization. This study examines land suitability for maize production through the analysis of the physicochemical variations in soil properties and other land attributes over space using a Geographic Information System (GIS) framework. Physicochemical parameters of importance selected include slope, landuse, physical and chemical properties of the soil, and climatic variables. Landsat imagery was used to categorize the landuse, Shuttle Radar Topographic Mapping (SRTM) generated the slope and soil samples were analyzed for its physical and chemical components. Suitability was categorized into highly, moderately and marginally suitable based on Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) classification, using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique of GIS. This result can be used by small scale farmers for efficient decision making in the allocation of land for maize production.

Keywords: AHP, GIS, MCE, Suitability, Zea mays.

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Authors: Zhizhong Jiang, Peter Naudé, Craig Comstock

Abstract:

The productivity of software development is one of the major concerns for project managers. Given the increasing complexity of the software being developed and the concomitant rise in the typical project size, the productivity has not consistently improved. By analyzing the latest release of ISBSG data repository with 4106 projects ever developed, we report on the factors found to significantly influence productivity, and present an original model for the estimation of productivity during project design. We further illustrate that software development productivity has experienced irregular variations between the years 1995 and 2005. Considering the factors significant to productivity, we found its variations are primarily caused by the variations of average team size for the development and the unbalanced use of the less productive development language 3GL.

Keywords: Development Platform, Function Point, Language, Productivity, Software Engineering, Team Size.

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Authors: F. Nejati Hafdani, N. Sadeghinia

Abstract:

In recent years application of natural antimicrobials instead of conventional ones, due to their hazardous effects on health, has got serious attentions. On the basis of the results of different studies, chitosan, a natural bio-degradable and non-toxic biopolysaccharide derived from chitin, has potential to be used as a natural antimicrobial. Chitosan has exhibited high antimicrobial activity against a wide variety of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms, including fungi, and Gram-positive and Gramnegative bacteria. The antimicrobial action is influenced by intrinsic factors such as the type of chitosan, the degree of chitosan polymerization and extrinsic factors such as the microbial organism, the environmental conditions and presence of the other components. The use of chitosan in food systems should be based on sufficient knowledge of the complex mechanisms of its antimicrobial mode of action. In this article we review a number of studies on the investigation of chitosan antimicrobial properties and application of them in culture and food mediums.

Keywords: Antimicrobial, Chitosan, Preservative

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Authors: T. Sakamoto, S. Kainuma

Abstract:

Firstly, in order to examine the influence of the remaining amount of the rust on the coating film durability, the accelerated deterioration tests were carried out. In order to prepare test specimens, uncoated steel plates were corroded by the Salt Spray Test (SST) prior to the accelerated deterioration tests, and then the prepared test specimens were coated by epoxy resin and phthalic acid resin each of which has different gas-barrier performance. As the result, it was confirmed that the under-film corrosion occurred in the area and the adjacency to great quantities of salt exists in the rust, and did not occurred in the specimen which was applied the epoxy resin paint after the surface preparation by the power tool. Secondly, in order to clarify the influence of the corrosive factors on the coating film durability, outdoor exposure tests were conducted for one year on actual steel bridge located at a coastal area. The tests specimens consist of coated corroded plates and the uncoated steel plates, and they were installed on the different structural members of the bridge for one year. From the test results, the uncoated steel plates which were installed on the underside of the member are easily corrosive and had highly correlation with the amount of salt in the rust. On the other hand, the most corrosive under-film steel was the vertical surface of the web plate. Thus, it was confirmed that under-film corrosion rate was not match with corrosion rate of the uncoated steel. Consequently, it is estimated that the main factors of under-film corrosion are gas-barrier property of coating film and corrosive factors such as water vapor and temperature. The salt which significantly corrodes the uncoated steel plate is not directly related to the under-film corrosion.

Keywords: Accelerated deterioration test, Coating durability, Environmental factor, Under-film corrosion.

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Authors: Manpreet Singh, Keerat Kaur, Bhavdeep Singh

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With the hardware technology advancing, the cost of storing is decreasing. Thus there is an urgent need for new techniques and tools that can intelligently and automatically assist us in transferring this data into useful knowledge. Different techniques of data mining are developed which are helpful for handling these large size databases [7]. Data mining is also finding its role in the field of biotechnology. Pedigree means the associated ancestry of a crop variety. Genetic diversity is the variation in the genetic composition of individuals within or among species. Genetic diversity depends upon the pedigree information of the varieties. Parents at lower hierarchic levels have more weightage for predicting genetic diversity as compared to the upper hierarchic levels. The weightage decreases as the level increases. For crossbreeding, the two varieties should be more and more genetically diverse so as to incorporate the useful characters of the two varieties in the newly developed variety. This paper discusses the searching and analyzing of different possible pairs of varieties selected on the basis of morphological characters, Climatic conditions and Nutrients so as to obtain the most optimal pair that can produce the required crossbreed variety. An algorithm was developed to determine the genetic diversity between the selected wheat varieties. Cluster analysis technique is used for retrieving the results.

Keywords: Genetic diversity, pedigree, nutrients.

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Authors: S. Mbatha, A. Mastamet-Mason

Abstract:

This paper applied factor conditions from Porter’s Diamond Model (1990) to understand the various challenges facing the AMISA. Factor conditions highlighted in Porter’s model are grouped into two groups namely, basic and advance factors. Two AMISA associations representing over 10 000 employees were interviewed. The largest Clothing, Textiles and Leather (CTL) apparel retail group was also interviewed with a government department implementing the industrialization policy were interviewed. The paper points out that AMISA have basic factor conditions necessary for competitive advantage in the apparel industries. However advance factor creation has proven to be a challenge for AMISA, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and government. Poor infrastructural maintenance has contributed to high manufacturing costs and poor quick response technologies. The use of Porter’s Factor Conditions as a tool to analyze the sector’s competitive advantage challenges and opportunities has increased knowledge regarding factors that limit the AMISA’s competitiveness. It is therefore argued that other studies on Porter’s Diamond model factors like Demand conditions, Firm strategy, structure and rivalry and Related and supporting industries can be used to analyze the situation of the AMISA for the purposes of improving competitive advantage.

Keywords: Compliance rule, apparel manufacturing industry, factor conditions, advance skills.

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Authors: Kasthurirangan Gopalakrishnan, Anshu Manik

Abstract:

Subgrade moisture content varies with environmental and soil conditions and has significant influence on pavement performance. Therefore, it is important to establish realistic estimates of expected subgrade moisture contents to account for the effects of this variable on predicted pavement performance during the design stage properly. The initial boundary soil suction profile for a given pavement is a critical factor in determining expected moisture variations in the subgrade for given pavement and climatic and soil conditions. Several numerical models have been developed for predicting water and solute transport in saturated and unsaturated subgrade soils. Soil hydraulic properties are required for quantitatively describing water and chemical transport processes in soils by the numerical models. The required hydraulic properties are hydraulic conductivity, water diffusivity, and specific water capacity. The objective of this paper was to determine isothermal moisture profiles in a soil fill and predict the soil moisture movement above the ground water table using a simple one-dimensional finite difference model.

Keywords: Fill, Hydraulic Conductivity, Pavement, Subgrade.

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Authors: Phichak Phutrakhul

Abstract:

The purposes of this research were to study concepts and strategies of human resource development in the automotive manufacturers and to articulate the proposals against the government about the human resource development for automotive industry. In the present study, qualitative study was an in-depth interview in which the qualitative data were collected from the executive or the executive of human resource division from five automotive companies - Toyota Motor (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Nissan Motor (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Motors (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co., Ltd., and Suzuki Motor (Thailand) Co., Ltd. Qualitative data analysis was performed by using inter-coder agreement technique. The research findings were as follows: The external factors included the current conditions of the automotive industry, government’s policy related to the automotive industry, technology, labor market and human resource development systems of the country. The internal factors included management, productive management, organizational strategies, leadership, organizational culture and philosophy of human resource development. These factors were affected to the different concept of human resources development -the traditional human resource development and the strategies of human resource development. The organization focuses on human resources as intellectual capital and uses the strategies of human resource development in all development processes. The strategies of human resource development will enhance the ability of human resources in the organization and the country.

Keywords: Human Resource Development Strategy, Automotive industry, Eco-Cars, ASEAN.

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Authors: Li Yu, Chenlu Jiao, Hongrun Xin, Yan Wang, Kaiyang Wang

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In order to study the impact of various factors on the housing price, we propose to build different prediction models based on deep learning to determine the existing data of the real estate in order to more accurately predict the housing price or its changing trend in the future. Considering that the factors which affect the housing price vary widely, the proposed prediction models include two categories. The first one is based on multiple characteristic factors of the real estate. We built Convolution Neural Network (CNN) prediction model and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural network prediction model based on deep learning, and logical regression model was implemented to make a comparison between these three models. Another prediction model is time series model. Based on deep learning, we proposed an LSTM-1 model purely regard to time series, then implementing and comparing the LSTM model and the Auto-Regressive and Moving Average (ARMA) model. In this paper, comprehensive study of the second-hand housing price in Beijing has been conducted from three aspects: crawling and analyzing, housing price predicting, and the result comparing. Ultimately the best model program was produced, which is of great significance to evaluation and prediction of the housing price in the real estate industry.

Keywords: Deep learning, convolutional neural network, LSTM, housing prediction.

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Authors: Abdelrahman Elsehsah, Hany Madkour, Khalid Farah

Abstract:

This article presents a 3-D modified non-linear elastic model in the strain space. The Helmholtz free energy function is introduced with the existence of a dissipation potential surface in the space of thermodynamic conjugate forces. The constitutive equation and the damage evolution were derived as well. The modified damage has been examined to model the nonlinear behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) slabs with an opening. A parametric study with RC was carried out to investigate the impact of different factors on the behavior of RC slabs. These factors are the opening area, the opening shape, the place of opening, and the thickness of the slabs. And the numerical results have been compared with the experimental data from literature. Finally, the model showed its ability to be applied to the structural analysis of RC slabs.

Keywords: 3-D numerical analysis, damage mechanics, RC slab with opening.

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Authors: Weidong Xia, Malgorzata Kolotylo, Xuan Tan

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This study examines the key factors that influence general practitioners’ learning and transfer of specialized arthritis knowledge and self-care techniques to patients during normal patient visits. Drawing on the theory of planed behavior and using matched survey data collected from general practitioners before and after training sessions provided by specialized orthopedic physicians, the study suggests that the general practitioner’s intention to use and transfer learned knowledge was influenced mainly by intrinsic motivation, organizational learning culture and absorptive capacity, but was not influenced by extrinsic motivation. The results provide both theoretical and practical implications.

Keywords: Empirical study, healthcare knowledge management, patient self-care, physician knowledge transfer.

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Authors: Lucky Farha, Martha L. Hall

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The current adaptive clothing brands are limited in numbers and specific categories. This study explores clothing challenges for children with Down syndrome and factors that influence their perception of adaptive clothing brands. Another aim of this study was to explore brands' challenges in the adaptive business and factors that influence their perceptions towards the adaptive market. In order to determine the market barriers affecting adaptive target market needs, we applied Technology Acceptance Model. After interviewing and surveying parents/caregivers having children with Down syndrome and current adaptive brands, the results found education as the significant gap in the adaptive clothing market yet to be overcome. Based on the finding, several recommendations were suggested to improve the current barriers in the adaptive clothing market.

Keywords: Adaptive fashion, disability, functional clothing, clothing needs assessment, Down syndrome, clothing challenge.

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Authors: Adnan Z. Mkhelif

Abstract:

Grammatical collocations (GCs) are word combinations containing a preposition or a grammatical structure, such as an infinitive (e.g. smile at, interested in, easy to learn, etc.). Such collocations tend to be difficult for Iraqi EFL university students (IUS) to master. To help address this problem, it is important to identify the factors causing it. This study aims at investigating the effects of L2 proficiency, frequency of GCs and their transparency on IUSs’ productive knowledge of GCs. The study involves 112 undergraduate participants with different proficiency levels, learning English in formal contexts in Iraq. The data collection instruments include (but not limited to) a productive knowledge test (designed by the researcher using the British National Corpus (BNC)), as well as the grammar part of the Oxford Placement Test (OPT). The study findings have shown that all the above-mentioned factors have significant effects on IUSs’ productive knowledge of GCs. In addition to establishing evidence of which factors of L2 learning might be relevant to learning GCs, it is hoped that the findings of the present study will contribute to more effective methods of teaching that can better address and help overcome the problems IUSs encounter in learning GCs. The study is thus hoped to have significant theoretical and pedagogical implications for researchers, syllabus designers as well as teachers of English as a foreign/second language.

Keywords: Corpus linguistics, frequency, grammatical collocations, L2 vocabulary learning, productive knowledge, proficiency, transparency.

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Authors: Tanida Julvanichpong

Abstract:

Exercise has been regarded as a necessary and important aspect to enhance physical performance and psychology health. Body weight statistics of students in junior high school students in Chonburi Province beyond a standard risk of obesity. Promoting exercise among Junior high school students in Chonburi Province, essential knowledge concerning factors influencing exercise is needed. Therefore, this study aims to (1) determine the levels of perceived exercise behavior, exercise behavior in the past, perceived barriers to exercise, perceived benefits of exercise, perceived self-efficacy to exercise, feelings associated with exercise behavior, influence of the family to exercise, influence of friends to exercise, and the perceived influence of the environment on exercise. (2) examine the predicting ability of each of the above factors while including personal factors (sex, educational level) for exercise behavior. Pender’s Health Promotion Model was used as a guide for the study. Sample included 652 students in junior high schools, Chonburi Provience. The samples were selected by Multi-Stage Random Sampling. Data Collection has been done by using self-administered questionnaires. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient, Eta, and stepwise multiple regression analysis. The research results showed that: 1. Perceived benefits of exercise, influence of teacher, influence of environmental, feelings associated with exercise behavior were at a high level. Influence of the family to exercise, exercise behavior, exercise behavior in the past, perceived self-efficacy to exercise and influence of friends were at a moderate level. Perceived barriers to exercise were at a low level. 2. Exercise behavior was positively significant related to perceived benefits of exercise, influence of the family to exercise, exercise behavior in the past, perceived self-efficacy to exercise, influence of friends, influence of teacher, influence of environmental and feelings associated with exercise behavior (p < .01, respectively) and was negatively significant related to educational level and perceived barriers to exercise (p < .01, respectively). Exercise behavior was significant related to sex (Eta = 0.243, p=.000). 3. Exercise behavior in the past, influence of the family to exercise significantly contributed 60.10 percent of the variance to the prediction of exercise behavior in male students (p < .01). Exercise behavior in the past, perceived self-efficacy to exercise, perceived barriers to exercise, and educational level significantly contributed 52.60 percent of the variance to the prediction of exercise behavior in female students (p < .01).

Keywords: Predictive factors, exercise behaviors, junior high school.

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Authors: Naveen Virmani, Rajeev Saha, Rajeshwar Sahai

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In today’s market, striving hard has become necessary for the industries to survive due to the intense competition and globalization. In earlier days, there were few sellers and limited numbers of buyers, so customers were having fewer options to buy the product. But today, the market is highly competitive and volatile. Industries are focusing on robotics, advance manufacturing methods like AJM (Abrasive Jet Machining), EDM (Electric Discharge Machining), ECM (Electrochemical Machining) etc., CAD/CAM, CAE to make quality products and market them in shortest possible time. Leagile manufacturing system is ensuring best available solution at minimum cost to meet the market demand. This paper tries to assimilate the concept of Leagile manufacturing system in today’s scenario and evaluating key factors affecting Leagile manufacturing using digraph technique.

Keywords: Agile manufacturing, digraph, lean manufacturing, leagile manufacturing.

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Authors: Marinka Baghdasaryan, Tigran Mnoyan

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The pertinence of modeling the moment of resistance generated by the ore-grinding mill is substantiated. Based on the ranking of technological indices obtained in the result of the survey among the specialists of several beneficiating plants, the factors determining the level of the moment of resistance generated by the mill are revealed. A priori diagram of the ranks is obtained in which the factors are arranged in the descending order of the impact degree on the level of the moment. The obtained model of the moment of resistance shows the technological character of the operation modes of the ore-grinding mill and can be used for improving the operation modes of the system motor-mill and preventing the abnormal mode of the drive synchronous motor.

Keywords: Model, abnormal mode, mill, correlation, moment of resistance, rotational speed.

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Authors: K.-H. Yang

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In the past, there was a lot of excellent research studies conducted on topics related to supplier selection. Because the considered factors of supplier selection are complicated and difficult to be quantified, most researchers deal supplier selection issues by qualitative approaches. Compared to qualitative approaches, quantitative approaches are less applicable in the real world. This study tried to apply the quantitative approach to study a supplier selection problem with considering operation cost and delivery reliability. By those factors, this study applies Normalized Normal Constraint Method to solve the dual objectives mixed integer program of the supplier selection problem.

Keywords: Bi-objectives MIP, normalized normal constraint method, supplier selection, quantitative approach.

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Authors: Luen Chow Chan

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With the advocacy of green transportation and green traveling, cycling has become increasingly popular nowadays. Physiology and bike design are key factors for the influence of cycling efficiency. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the significance of bike-frame geometric factors on cycling efficiency and muscle activation for different body sizes of non-professional Asian male cyclists. Participants who represented various body sizes, as measured by leg and back lengths, carried out cycling tests using a tailor-assembled road bike with different ergonomic design configurations including seat-height adjustments (i.e., 96%, 100%, and 104% of trochanteric height) and bike frame sizes (i.e., small and medium frames) for an assessable distance of 1 km. A specific power meter and self-developed adaptable surface electromyography (sEMG) were used to measure average pedaling power and cadence generated and muscle activation, respectively. The results showed that changing the seat height was far more significant than the body and bike frame sizes. The sEMG data evidently provided a better understanding of muscle activation as a function of different seat heights. Therefore, the interpretation of this study is that the major bike ergonomic design factor dominating the cycling efficiency of Asian participants with different body sizes was the seat height.

Keywords: Bike frame sizes, cadence rate, pedaling power, seat height.

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Authors: Hamed Qahri Saremi, Gholam Ali Montazer

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With the proliferation of World Wide Web, development of web-based technologies and the growth in web content, the structure of a website becomes more complex and web navigation becomes a critical issue to both web designers and users. In this paper we define the content and web pages as two important and influential factors in website navigation and paraphrase the enhancement in the website navigation as making some useful changes in the link structure of the website based on the aforementioned factors. Then we suggest a new method for proposing the changes using fuzzy approach to optimize the website architecture. Applying the proposed method to a real case of Iranian Civil Aviation Organization (CAO) website, we discuss the results of the novel approach at the final section.

Keywords: Web content, Web navigation, Website system, Webusage mining.

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Authors: Jane O. Munonye

Abstract:

Climate change has both negative and positive effects in agricultural production. For agriculture to be sustainable in adverse climate change condition, some natural measures are needed. The issue is to produce more food with available natural resources and reduce the contribution of agriculture to climate change. The study reviewed climate change and sustainable agriculture in southeast Nigeria. Data from the study were from secondary sources. Ten scientific papers were consulted and data for the review were collected from three. The objectives of the paper were as follows: to review the effect of climate change on one major arable crop in southeast Nigeria (yam; Dioscorea rotundata); evident of climate change impact and methods for sustainable agricultural production in adverse weather condition. Some climatic parameter as sunshine, relative humidity and rainfall have negative relationship with yam production and significant at 10% probability. Crop production was predicted to decline by 25% per hectare by 2060 while livestock production has increased the incidence of diseases and pathogens as the major effect to agriculture. Methods for sustainable agriculture and damage of natural resources by climate change were highlighted. Agriculture needs to be transformed as climate changes to enable the sector to be sustainable. There should be a policy in place to facilitate the integration of sustainability in Nigeria agriculture.

Keywords: Agriculture, climate change, sustainability, yam.

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Authors: Carlos A. D. Torres, Antonio D. Delgado

Abstract:

In this work we study the thermodynamic behavior of some ventilated facades under summer operating conditions in Southern Spain. Under these climatic conditions, indoor comfort implies a high energetic demand due to high temperatures that usually are reached in this season in the considered geographical area.

The aim of this work is to determine if during summer operating conditions in Southern Spain, ventilated façades provide some energy saving compared to the non-ventilated façades and to deduce their behavior patterns in terms of energy efficiency.

The modelization of the air flow in the channel has been performed by using Navier-Stokes equations for thermodynamic flows. Numerical simulations have been carried out with a 2D Finite Element approach.

This way, we analyze the behavior of ventilated façades under different weather conditions as variable wind, variable temperature and different levels of solar irradiation.

CFD computations show the combined effect of the shading of the external wall and the ventilation by the natural convection into the air gap achieve a reduction of the heat load during the summer period. This reduction has been evaluated by comparing the thermodynamic performances of two ventilated and two unventilated façades with the same geometry and thermophysical characteristics.

Keywords: Passive cooling, ventilated façades, energy-efficient building, CFD, FEM.

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