Search results for: radial basis function support vector machine

Authors: E. Asgharizadeh, M. Ajalli Geshlajoughi, S. R. Safavi Mirmahalleh

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Amazing development of the information technology, communications and internet expansion as well as the requirements of the city managers to new ideas to run the city and higher participation of the citizens encourage us to complete the electronic city as soon as possible. The foundations of this electronic city are in information technology. People-s participation in metropolitan management is a crucial topic. Information technology does not impede this matter. It can ameliorate populace-s participation and better interactions between the citizens and the city managers. Citizens can proffer their ideas, beliefs and votes through digital mass media based upon the internet and computerization plexuses on the topical matters to receive appropriate replies and services. They can participate in urban projects by becoming cognizant of the city views. The most significant challenges are as follows: information and communicative management, altering citizens- views, as well as legal and office documents Electronic city obstacles have been identified in this research. The required data were forgathered through questionnaires to identify the barriers from a statistical community comprising specialists and practitioners of the ministry of information technology and communication, the municipality information technology organization. The conclusions demonstrate that the prioritized electronic city application barriers in Iran are as follows: The support quandaries (non-financial ones), behavioral, cultural and educational plights, the security, legal and license predicaments, the hardware, orismological and infrastructural curbs, the software and fiscal problems.

Keywords: Electronic city, urban management, populace's participation, electronic government, electronic services, electronic organization, electronic infrastructure.

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Authors: Libor Zachoval, Daire O Broin, Oisin Cawley

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E-learning platforms, such as Blackboard have two major shortcomings: limited data capture as a result of the limitations of SCORM (Shareable Content Object Reference Model), and lack of incorporation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning algorithms which could lead to better course adaptations. With the recent development of Experience Application Programming Interface (xAPI), a large amount of additional types of data can be captured and that opens a window of possibilities from which online education can benefit. In a corporate setting, where companies invest billions on the learning and development of their employees, some learner behaviours can be troublesome for they can hinder the knowledge development of a learner. Behaviours that hinder the knowledge development also raise ambiguity about learner’s knowledge mastery, specifically those related to gaming the system. Furthermore, a company receives little benefit from their investment if employees are passing courses without possessing the required knowledge and potential compliance risks may arise. Using xAPI and rules derived from a state-of-the-art review, we identified three learner behaviours, primarily related to guessing, in a corporate compliance course. The identified behaviours are: trying each option for a question, specifically for multiple-choice questions; selecting a single option for all the questions on the test; and continuously repeating tests upon failing as opposed to going over the learning material. These behaviours were detected on learners who repeated the test at least 4 times before passing the course. These findings suggest that gauging the mastery of a learner from multiple-choice questions test scores alone is a naive approach. Thus, next steps will consider the incorporation of additional data points, knowledge estimation models to model knowledge mastery of a learner more accurately, and analysis of the data for correlations between knowledge development and identified learner behaviours. Additional work could explore how learner behaviours could be utilised to make changes to a course. For example, course content may require modifications (certain sections of learning material may be shown to not be helpful to many learners to master the learning outcomes aimed at) or course design (such as the type and duration of feedback).

Keywords: Compliance Course, Corporate Training, Learner Behaviours, xAPI.

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Authors: E. Ghabouli

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Intermediate cities which also called medium size cities have an important role in the process of globalization. It is argued that, in some cases this type of cities may be depopulated or in otherwise may be transformed as the periphery of metropolitans, so that the personal identity of the city and its local cultural heritage could suffer from its neighbor metropolitan. Over the last decades, the role of tourism in the development process and the cultural heritage has increased. The impact of tourism on socioeconomic growth makes motivation for the study of tourism development in regional and urban planning process. There are evidences that tourism has a positive impact in local development and makes economic motivations for cultural heritage protection. In this study, by considering the role of tourism in local development, especially by its economic and socio-cultural impacts, it is tried to introduce a strategy for tourism development through a method of urban planning for intermediate cities called as Base plan. Damavand is an intermediate city located in Tehran province, Iran with a high potential in tourism by its local specific characteristic like social structure, antiquities and natural attractions. It’s selected as a suitable case study for intended strategy which is a combination of urban planning and tourism development methods. Focusing on recognition of the historical and cultural heritage of Damavand, in this paper through “base plan methodology” a strategy of urban planning toward tourism development is prepared in order to make tourism development as a support for cultural heritage of this city.

Keywords: Urban planning, tourism, cultural heritage, intermediate cities.

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Authors: Yongsheng Guo, Shuchao Li

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This study explores Chinese Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Europe and the cross-cultural cooperation between Chinese and European managers. The aim of this research is to shed light on the phenomenon of investments in developed countries from an emerging market and to gain insights into the cooperation process. A grounded theory approach is adopted, and 46 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 case companies in Germany and 13 case companies in the UK. Grounded theory models are developed from primary data and interview quotes are used to support the themes. The interviewees perceived differences between the two parties in cultural traits, management concepts, knowledge structure and resource endowment between the two parties. Chinese and European partners can take advantage of different resources and cooperate in innovative ways to improve corporate performance. Moreover, both parties appreciate different ethical and cultural characteristics and complement each other to develop a combined organizational culture. This study proposes an ethical and cultural diversity theory in international management arguing that a team with diversified values and behaviours may be more excited and motivated. This study suggests that “resource complement” and “cross-cultural cooperation” might be an advantage for international investment. Firms are encouraged to open their minds and cooperate with partners with different resources and cultures. The authorities may review the FDI policies to reduce social and political barriers.

Keywords: Cross-culture, FDI, China, Europe.

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Authors: Cecilia Perri, Vincenzo Corvello

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The aim of the present study is to investigate consumers' determinants of intention toward the adoption of Smart Grid solutions and technologies. Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) model is applied and tested to explain the formation of such adoption intention. An exogenous variable, taking into account the resistance to change of individuals, was added to the basic model. The elicitation study allowed obtaining salient modal beliefs, which were used, with the support of literature, to design the questionnaire. After the screening phase, data collected from the main survey were analysed for evaluating measurement model's reliability and validity. Consistent with the theory, the results of structural equation analysis revealed that attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control positively, which affected the adoption intention. Specifically, the variable with the highest estimate loading factor was found to be the perceived behavioural control, and, the most important belief related to each construct was determined (e.g., energy saving was observed to be the most significant belief linked with attitude). Further investigation indicated that the added exogenous variable has a negative influence on intention; this finding confirmed partially the hypothesis, since this influence was indirect: such relationship was mediated by attitude. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Keywords: Adoption of innovation, consumers behaviour, energy management, smart grid, theory of planned behaviour.

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Authors: A. S. Haruna, M. U. Tambawal, A. A. Salawu

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The psychological impact of peer influence on its individual group members, can make them resist HIV/AIDS counselling and testing. This study investigated the correlate of peer influence and resistance to HIV/AIDS counselling and testing among students in tertiary institutions in Kano state, Nigeria. To achieve this, three null hypotheses were postulated and tested. Cross- Sectional Survey Design was employed in which 1512 sample was selected from a student population of 104,841.Simple Random Sampling was used in the selection. A self-developed 20-item scale called Peer Influence and Psychological Resistance Inventory (PIPRI) was used for data collection. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMCC) via test-retest method was applied to estimate a reliability coefficient of 0.86 for the scale. Data obtained was analyzed using t-test and PPMCC at 0.05 level of confidence. Results reveal 26.3% (397) of the respondents being influenced by their peer group, while 39.8% showed resistance. Also, the t-tests and PPMCC statistics were greater than their respective critical values. This shows that there was a significant gender difference in peer influence and a difference between peer influence and resistance to HIV/AIDS counselling and testing. However, a positive relationship between peer influence and resistance to HIV/AIDS counselling and testing was shown. A major recommendation offered suggests the use of reinforcement and social support for positive attitudes and maintenance of safe behaviour among students who patronize HIV/AIDS counselling.

Keywords: Peer influence, HIV/AIDS counselling and testing, Resistance.

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Authors: S. M. Kamruzzaman

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In this paper, we propose a dynamic TDMA slot reservation (DTSR) protocol for cognitive radio ad hoc networks. Quality of Service (QoS) guarantee plays a critically important role in such networks. We consider the problem of providing QoS guarantee to users as well as to maintain the most efficient use of scarce bandwidth resources. According to one hop neighboring information and the bandwidth requirement, our proposed protocol dynamically changes the frame length and the transmission schedule. A dynamic frame length expansion and shrinking scheme that controls the excessive increase of unassigned slots has been proposed. This method efficiently utilizes the channel bandwidth by assigning unused slots to new neighboring nodes and increasing the frame length when the number of slots in the frame is insufficient to support the neighboring nodes. It also shrinks the frame length when half of the slots in the frame of a node are empty. An efficient slot reservation protocol not only guarantees successful data transmissions without collisions but also enhance channel spatial reuse to maximize the system throughput. Our proposed scheme, which provides both QoS guarantee and efficient resource utilization, be employed to optimize the channel spatial reuse and maximize the system throughput. Extensive simulation results show that the proposed mechanism achieves desirable performance in multichannel multi-rate cognitive radio ad hoc networks.

Keywords: TDMA, cognitive radio, ad hoc networks, QoSguarantee, dynamic frame length.

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Authors: Y. Duvarci, S. Mizokami

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Today, the preferences and participation of the TD groups such as the elderly and disabled is still lacking in decision-making of transportation planning, and their reactions to certain type of policies are not well known. Thus, a clear methodology is needed. This study aimed to develop a method to extract the preferences of the disabled to be used in the policy-making stage that can also guide to future estimations. The method utilizes the combination of cluster analysis and data filtering using the data of the Arao city (Japan). The method is a process that follows: defining the TD group by the cluster analysis tool, their travel preferences in tabular form from the household surveys by policy variableimpact pairs, zones, and by trip purposes, and the final outcome is the preference probabilities of the disabled. The preferences vary by trip purpose; for the work trips, accessibility and transit system quality policies with the accompanying impacts of modal shifts towards public mode use as well as the decreasing travel costs, and the trip rate increase; for the social trips, the same accessibility and transit system policies leading to the same mode shift impact, together with the travel quality policy area leading to trip rate increase. These results explain the policies to focus and can be used in scenario generation in models, or any other planning purpose as decision support tool.

Keywords: Transportation Disadvantaged, Disabled, Mixed Preference, Stated Preference Data.

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Authors: Diriba Gemechu, Lamessa Abebe

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The aim of this study was to examine the effect of cooperative learning method on student’s academic achievement and on the achievement level over a usual method in teaching different topics of mathematics. The study also examines the perceptions of students towards cooperative learning. Cooperative learning is the instructional strategy in which pairs or small groups of students with different levels of ability work together to accomplish a shared goal. The aim of this cooperation is for students to maximize their own and each other learning, with members striving for joint benefit. The teacher’s role changes from wise on the wise to guide on the side. Cooperative learning due to its influential aspects is the most prevalent teaching-learning technique in the modern world. Therefore the study was conducted in order to examine the effect of cooperative learning on the academic achievement of grade 9 students in Mathematics in case of Mettu secondary school. Two sample sections are randomly selected by which one section served randomly as an experimental and the other as a comparison group. Data gathering instruments are achievement tests and questionnaires. A treatment of STAD method of cooperative learning was provided to the experimental group while the usual method is used in the comparison group. The experiment lasted for one semester. To determine the effect of cooperative learning on the student’s academic achievement, the significance of difference between the scores of groups at 0.05 levels was tested by applying t test. The effect size was calculated to see the strength of the treatment. The student’s perceptions about the method were tested by percentiles of the questionnaires. During data analysis, each group was divided into high and low achievers on basis of their previous Mathematics result. Data analysis revealed that both the experimental and comparison groups were almost equal in Mathematics at the beginning of the experiment. The experimental group out scored significantly than comparison group on posttest. Additionally, the comparison of mean posttest scores of high achievers indicates significant difference between the two groups. The same is true for low achiever students of both groups on posttest. Hence, the result of the study indicates the effectiveness of the method for Mathematics topics as compared to usual method of teaching.

Keywords: Cooperative learning, academic achievement, experimental group, comparison group.

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Authors: Pegah Farokhzad

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Family is a basic unit of the society and the main source of human development. The initial aim of the family is psychological and social support of its members and has special developmental stages. Researches show the families who have less cohesion, have more conflicts and maladjustments and the members of such families are not able to communicate effectively. Family is a system in which any inter communication is related to child rearing patterns and can affect it. Even the child rearing styles in childhood can determine the family communications in adulthood. Therefore, the aim of the present research was to examine the relationship between child-rearing styles including authoritative, authoritarian and permissive with dimensions of family communication patterns including the conversation and conformity. The research design was a correlational and the population consisted of the psychology students of Roudehen Islamic Azad University who were studying in academic year 2013-2014. A sample of 324 students was selected randomly from the population. The research tools were the Baumrind Child-rearing Questionnaires and Family Communication Patterns Inventory, The Revised Scale of Koerner and Fitzpatrick. The result was as below: (a) there was a positive and significant relationship between conversation orientation and authoritative style. (b) There was no significant relationship between conversation orientation and other child-rearing styles. (c) There was a negative significant relationship between conformity orientation and authoritative style. (d) There was a positive significant relationship between conformity orientation with authoritarian and permissive styles. (e) There was a significant relationship between 3 dimensions of child-rearing and communication patterns.

Keywords: Child-rearing Styles, Family Relationship Patterns.

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Authors: Xinyue Ma, Dishen Zhang, Yijun Liu, Yutian Jiang, Huiyan Yu, Chufeng Gu

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Conformity is defined as one in a social group changing his or her behavior to match the others’ behavior in the group. It is used to find that people show a higher level of online conformity behavior than offline. However, as anonymity can decrease the level of online conformity behavior, the difference between online and offline conformity behavior among Chinese college students still needs to be tested. In this study, college students (N = 60) have been randomly assigned into three groups: control group, offline experimental group, and online experimental group. Through comparing the results of offline experimental group and online experimental group with the Mann-Whitney U test, this study verified the results of Asch’s experiment, and found out that people show a lower level of online conformity behavior than offline, which contradicted the previous finding found in China. These results can be used to explain why some people make a lot of vicious remarks and radical ideas on the Internet but perform normally in their real life: the anonymity of the network makes the online group pressure less than offline, so people are less likely to conform to social norms and public opinions on the Internet. What is more, these results support the importance and relevance of online voting, because fewer online group pressures make it easier for people to expose their true ideas, thus gathering more comprehensive and truthful views and opinions.

Keywords: Anonymity, Asch’s group conformity, Chinese college students, online conformity.

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Authors: R.M. Kainkwa

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The African Great Lakes Region refers to the zone around lakes Victoria, Tanganyika, Albert, Edward, Kivu, and Malawi. The main source of electricity in this region is hydropower whose systems are generally characterized by relatively weak, isolated power schemes, poor maintenance and technical deficiencies with limited electricity infrastructures. Most of the hydro sources are rain fed, and as such there is normally a deficiency of water during the dry seasons and extended droughts. In such calamities fossil fuels sources, in particular petroleum products and natural gas, are normally used to rescue the situation but apart from them being nonrenewable, they also release huge amount of green house gases to our environment which in turn accelerates the global warming that has at present reached an amazing stage. Wind power is ample, renewable, widely distributed, clean, and free energy source that does not consume or pollute water. Wind generated electricity is one of the most practical and commercially viable option for grid quality and utility scale electricity production. However, the main shortcoming associated with electric wind power generation is fluctuation in its output both in space and time. Before making a decision to establish a wind park at a site, the wind speed features there should therefore be known thoroughly as well as local demand or transmission capacity. The main objective of this paper is to utilise monthly average wind speed data collected from one prospective site within the African Great Lakes Region to demonstrate that the available wind power there is high enough to generate electricity. The mean monthly values were calculated from records gathered on hourly basis for a period of 5 years (2001 to 2005) from a site in Tanzania. The documentations that were collected at a height of 2 m were projected to a height of 50 m which is the standard hub height of wind turbines. The overall monthly average wind speed was found to be 12.11 m/s whereas June to November was established to be the windy season as the wind speed during the session is above the overall monthly wind speed. The available wind power density corresponding to the overall mean monthly wind speed was evaluated to be 1072 W/m2, a potential that is worthwhile harvesting for the purpose of electric generation.

Keywords: Hydro power, windy season, available wind powerdensity.

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Authors: Eusebio A. Jiménez-Arévalo, Deifilia Ahuatzi-Chacón, Juvencio Galíndez-Mayer, Cleotilde Juárez-Ramírez, Nora Ruiz-Ordaz

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Bendiocarb is a known toxic xenobiotic that presents acute and chronic risks for freshwater invertebrates and estuarine and marine biota; thus, the treatment of water contaminated with the insecticide is of concern. In this paper, a bacterial community with the capacity to grow in bendiocarb as its sole carbon and nitrogen source was isolated by enrichment techniques in batch culture, from samples of a composting plant located in the northeast of Mexico City. Eight cultivable bacteria were isolated from the microbial community, by PCR amplification of 16 rDNA; Pseudoxanthomonas spadix (NC_016147.2, 98%), Ochrobacterium anthropi (NC_009668.1, 97%), Staphylococcus capitis (NZ_CP007601.1, 99%), Bosea thiooxidans. (NZ_LMAR01000067.1, 99%), Pseudomonas denitrificans. (NC_020829.1, 99%), Agromyces sp. (NZ_LMKQ01000001.1, 98%), Bacillus thuringiensis. (NC_022873.1, 97%), Pseudomonas alkylphenolia (NZ_CP009048.1, 98%). NCBI accession numbers and percentage of similarity are indicated in parentheses. These bacteria were regarded as the isolated species for having the best similarity matches. The ability to degrade bendiocarb by the immobilized bacterial community in a packed bed biofilm reactor, using as support volcanic stone fragments (tezontle), was evaluated. The reactor system was operated in batch using mineral salts medium and 30 mg/L of bendiocarb as carbon and nitrogen source. With this system, an overall removal efficiency (η_bend) rounding 90%, was reached.

Keywords: Bendiocarb, biodegradation, biofilm reactor, carbamate insecticide.

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Authors: Erika R. Chambriard, Sandro C. Izidoro, Davidson P. Mendes, Douglas E. V. Pires

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Work-related illnesses and disorders have been a constant aspect of work. Although their nature has changed over time, from musculoskeletal disorders to illnesses related to psychosocial aspects of work, its impact on the life of workers remains significant. Despite significant efforts worldwide to protect workers, the disparity between changes in work legislation and actual benefit for workers’ health has been creating a significant economic burden for social security and health systems around the world. In this context, this study aims to propose, test and validate a modular prototype that allows for work environmental aspects to be assessed, monitored and better controlled. The main focus is also to provide a historical record of working conditions and the means for workers to obtain comprehensible and useful information regarding their work environment and legal limits of occupational exposure to different types of environmental variables, as means to improve prevention of work-related accidents and disorders. We show the developed prototype provides useful and accurate information regarding the work environmental conditions, validating them with standard occupational hygiene equipment. We believe the proposed prototype is a cost-effective and adequate approach to work environment monitoring that could help elucidate the links between work and occupational illnesses, and that different industry sectors, as well as developing countries, could benefit from its capabilities.

Keywords: Arduino prototyping, occupational health and hygiene, work environment, work-related disorders prevention.

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Authors: Y. Zheng, W. Sun

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This paper describes a new approach which can be used to interpret the experimental creep deformation data obtained from miniaturized thin plate bending specimen test to the corresponding uniaxial data based on an inversed application of the reference stress method. The geometry of the thin plate is fully defined by the span of the support, l, the width, b, and the thickness, d. Firstly, analytical solutions for the steady-state, load-line creep deformation rate of the thin plates for a Norton’s power law under plane stress (b→0) and plane strain (b→∞) conditions were obtained, from which it can be seen that the load-line deformation rate of the thin plate under plane-stress conditions is much higher than that under the plane-strain conditions. Since analytical solution is not available for the plates with random b-values, finite element (FE) analyses are used to obtain the solutions. Based on the FE results obtained for various b/l ratios and creep exponent, n, as well as the analytical solutions under plane stress and plane strain conditions, an approximate, numerical solutions for the deformation rate are obtained by curve fitting. Using these solutions, a reference stress method is utilised to establish the conversion relationships between the applied load and the equivalent uniaxial stress and between the creep deformations of thin plate and the equivalent uniaxial creep strains. Finally, the accuracy of the empirical solution was assessed by using a set of “theoretical” experimental data.

Keywords: Bending, Creep, Miniature Specimen, Thin Plate.

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Authors: Vatasta Koul, Ayush Gupta, Vaibhav Sharma, Rajesh Yadav

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Today we are unmarking the secrets of the universe by exploring different stars and planets and most of the space exploration is done by unmanned space robots. In addition to our planet Earth, there are pieces of evidence that show other astronomical objects in our solar system such as Venus, Mars, Saturn’s moon Titan and Uranus support the flight of fixed wing air vehicles. In this paper, we take forward the concept of presence of large rounded tubercles along the leading edge of a wing and use it as a passive flow control device that will help in improving its aerodynamic performance and maneuverability. Furthermore, in this research, aerodynamic measurements and performance analysis of wavy leading tubercles on the fixed wings at 5-degree angle of attack are carried out after determination of the flow conditions on the selected planetary bodies. Wavelength and amplitude for the sinusoidal modifications on the leading edge are analyzed and simulations are carried out for three-dimensional NACA 0012 airfoil maintaining unity AR (Aspect Ratio). Tubercles have consistently demonstrated the ability to delay and decrease the severity of stall as per the studies were done in the Earth’s atmosphere. Implementing the same design on the leading edges of Micro-Air Vehicles (MAVs) and UAVs could make these aircrafts more stable over a greater range of angles of attack in different planetary environments of our solar system.

Keywords: Amplitude, NACA0012, tubercles, unmanned space robots.

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Authors: D. Garg, S. Luthra, A. Haleem

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Due to growing concern about environmental and social consequences throughout the world, a need has been felt to incorporate sustainability concepts in conventional manufacturing. This paper is an attempt to identify and evaluate drivers in implementing sustainable manufacturing in Indian context. Nine possible drivers for successful implementation of sustainable manufacturing have been identified from extensive review. Further, Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) approach has been utilized to evaluate and categorize these identified drivers for implementing sustainable manufacturing in to the cause and effect groups. Five drivers (Societal Pressure and Public Concerns; Regulations and Government Policies; Top Management Involvement, Commitment and Support; Effective Strategies and Activities towards Socially Responsible Manufacturing and Market Trends) have been categorized into the cause group and four drivers (Holistic View in Manufacturing Systems; Supplier Participation; Building Sustainable culture in Organization; and Corporate Image and Benefits) have been categorized into the effect group. “Societal Pressure and Public Concerns” has been found the most critical driver and “Corporate Image and Benefits” as least critical or the most easily influenced driver to implementing sustainable manufacturing in Indian context. This paper may surely help practitioners in better understanding of these drivers and their priorities towards effective implementation of sustainable manufacturing.

Keywords: Drivers, Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL), India, Sustainable Manufacturing (SM).

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Authors: K. Shimola, M. Krishnaveni

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This paper examines vulnerability assessment of water resources in a semi-arid basin using the 4-step approach. The vulnerability assessment framework is developed to study the water resources vulnerability which includes the creation of GIS-based vulnerability maps. These maps represent the spatial variability of the vulnerability index. This paper introduces the 4-step approach to assess vulnerability that incorporates a new set of indicators. The approach is demonstrated using a framework composed of a precipitation data for (1975–2010) period, temperature data for (1965–2010) period, hydrological model outputs and the water resources GIS data base. The vulnerability assessment is a function of three components such as exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. The current water resources vulnerability is assessed using GIS based spatio-temporal information. Rainfall Coefficient of Variation, monsoon onset and end date, rainy days, seasonality indices, temperature are selected for the criterion ‘exposure’. Water yield, ground water recharge, evapotranspiration (ET) are selected for the criterion ‘sensitivity’. Type of irrigation and storage structures are selected for the criterion ‘Adaptive capacity’. These indicators were mapped and integrated in GIS environment using overlay analysis. The five sub-basins, namely Arjunanadhi, Kousiganadhi, Sindapalli-Uppodai and Vallampatti Odai, fall under medium vulnerability profile, which indicates that the basin is under moderate stress of water resources. The paper also explores prioritization of sub-basinwise adaptation strategies to climate change based on the vulnerability indices.

Keywords: Adaptive capacity, exposure, overlay analysis, sensitivity, vulnerability.

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Authors: Prasanti Widyasih Sarli, Prayatni Soewondo

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Greater access to sanitation in developing countries is urgent. However even though sanitation is crucial, overall budget for sanitation is limited. With this budget limitation, it is important to (1) allocate resources strategically to maximize impact and (2) take into account communal agency to potentially be a source for sanitation improvements. The Jodipan and Kesatrian Project in Malang, Indonesia is an interesting alternative for solving the sanitation problem in which resources were allocated strategically and communal agency was also observed. Although the projects initial goal was only to improve visually the situation in the slums, it became a new tourist destination, and the economic benefit that came with it had an effect also on the change of behavior of the residents and the government towards sanitation. It also grew from only including the Kesatrian Village to expanding to the Jodipan Village in the course of less than a year. To investigate the success of this project, in this paper a descriptive model will be used and data will be drawn from intensive interviews with the initiators of the project, residents affected by the project and government officials. In this research it is argued that three points mark the success of the project: (1) the strategic initial impact due to choice of location, (2) the influx of tourists that triggered behavioral change among residents and, (3) the direct economic impact which ensured its sustainability and growth by gaining government officials support and attention for more public spending in the area for slum development and sanitation improvement.

Keywords: Behavior change, sanitation, slum, strategic thinking.

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Authors: Yu-Min Chang, Kuo-Sheng Tsai, Hung-Te Tsai, Chia-Hsin Li

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This paper presents the early-warning lights classification management system for industrial parks promoted by the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) since 2011, including the definition of each early-warning light, objectives, action program and accomplishments. All of the 151 industrial parks in Taiwan were classified into four early-warning lights, including red, orange, yellow and green, for carrying out respective pollution management according to the monitoring data of soil and groundwater quality, regulatory compliance, and regulatory listing of control site or remediation site. The Taiwan EPA set up a priority list for high potential polluted industrial parks and investigated their soil and groundwater qualities based on the results of the light classification and pollution potential assessment. In 2011-2013, there were 44 industrial parks selected and carried out different investigation, such as the early warning groundwater well networks establishment and pollution investigation/verification for the red and orange-light industrial parks and the environmental background survey for the yellow-light industrial parks. Among them, 22 industrial parks were newly or continuously confirmed that the concentrations of pollutants exceeded those in soil or groundwater pollution control standards. Thus, the further investigation, groundwater use restriction, listing of pollution control site or remediation site, and pollutant isolation measures were implemented by the local environmental protection and industry competent authorities; the early warning lights of those industrial parks were proposed to adjust up to orange or red-light. Up to the present, the preliminary positive effect of the soil and groundwater quality management system for industrial parks has been noticed in several aspects, such as environmental background information collection, early warning of pollution risk, pollution investigation and control, information integration and application, and inter-agency collaboration. Finally, the work and goal of self-initiated quality management of industrial parks will be carried out on the basis of the inter-agency collaboration by the classified lights system of early warning and management as well as the regular announcement of the status of each industrial park.

Keywords: Industrial park, soil and groundwater quality management, early-warning lights classification, SOP for reporting and treatment of monitored abnormal events.

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Authors: Clement M. Matasane, Mohamed T. Kahn

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Biomass resources such as animal waste, agricultural and acro-industrial residues, forestry and woodland waste, and industrial and municipal solid wastes provide alternative means to utilize its untapped potential for biomass/biofuel renewable energy systems. In addition, crop residues (i.e., grain, starch, and energy crops) are commonly available in the district and play an essential role in community farming activities. The remote sensing technology (mappings) and geographic information systems tool will be used to determine the biomass potential in the Vhembe District Municipality. The detailed assessment, estimation, and modeling in quantifying their distribution, abundance, and quality yield an effective and efficient use of their potential. This paper aims to examine the potential and prospects of deploying bioenergy systems in small or micro-systems in the district for community use and applications. This deployment of the biofuels/biomass systems will help communities for sustainable energy supply from their traditional energy use into innovative and suitable methods that improve their livelihood. The study demonstrates the potential applications of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in spatial mapping analysis, evaluation, modeling, and decision support for easy access to renewable energy systems.

Keywords: Agricultural crops, waste materials, biomass potentials, bioenergy potentials, GIS mappings, environmental data, renewable energy deployment, sustainable energy supply.

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Authors: Mohsen Masoomi, Fazel Asadi Amjad, Monireh Arvin

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According to Naturalistic principles, human destiny in the form of blind chance and determinism, entraps the individual, so man is a defenceless creature unable to escape from the ruthless paws of a stoical universe. In Naturalism; nonetheless, melodrama mirrors a conscious alternative with a peculiar function. A typical American Naturalistic character thus cannot be a subject for social criticism of American society since they are not victims of the ongoing virtual slavery, capitalist system, nor of a ruined milieu, but of their own volition, and more importantly, their character frailty. Through a Postmodern viewpoint, each Naturalistic work can encompass some entropic trends and changes culminating in an entire failure and devastation. Frank Norris in McTeague displays the futile struggles of ordinary men and how they end up brutes. McTeague encompasses intoxication, abuse, violation, and ruthless homicides. Norris’ depictions of the falling individual as a demon represent the entropic dimension of Naturalistic novels. McTeague’s defeat is somewhat his own fault, the result of his own blunders and resolution, not the result of sheer accident. Throughout the novel, each character is a kind of insane quester indicating McTeague’s decadence and, by inference, the decadence of Western civilisation. McTeague seems to designate Norris’ solicitude for a community fabricated by the elements of human negative demeanours and conducts hauling acute symptoms of infectious dehumanisation. The aim of this article is to illustrate how one specific negative human disposition gradually, like a running fire, can spread everywhere and burn everything in itself. The author applies the concept of entropy metaphorically to describe the individual devolutions that necessarily comprise community entropy in McTeague, a dying universe.

Keywords: Animal imagery, entropy, Gypsy, melodrama.

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Authors: C. M. Balaceanu, G. Suciu, C. S. Bosoc, O. Orza, C. Fernandez, Z. Viniczay

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The Internet of Things (IoT) represents the best option for smart vineyard applications, even if it is necessary to integrate the technologies required for the development. This article is based on the research and the results obtained in the DISAVIT project. For Smart Agriculture, the project aims to provide a trustworthy, intelligent, integrated vineyard management solution that is based on the IoT. To have interoperability through the use of a multiprotocol technology (being the future connected wireless IoT) it is necessary to adopt an agnostic approach, providing a reliable environment to address cyber security, IoT-based threats and traceability through blockchain-based design, but also creating a concept for long-term implementations (modular, scalable). The ones described above represent the main innovative technical aspects of this project. The DISAVIT project studies and promotes the incorporation of better management tools based on objective data-based decisions, which are necessary for agriculture adapted and more resistant to climate change. It also exploits the opportunities generated by the digital services market for smart agriculture management stakeholders. The project's final result aims to improve decision-making, performance, and viticulturally infrastructure and increase real-time data accuracy and interoperability. Innovative aspects such as end-to-end solutions, adaptability, scalability, security and traceability, place our product in a favorable situation over competitors. None of the solutions in the market meet every one of these requirements by a unique product being innovative.

Keywords: Blockchain, IoT, smart agriculture, vineyard.

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Authors: Tomasz Dubiel, Tadeusz Balawender, Mirosław Osetek

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The paper presents the influence of non-metallic inclusions on the multi-stage forging process and the mechanical properties of the dodecagon socket bolt used in the automotive industry. The detected metallurgical defect was so large that it directly influenced the mechanical properties of the bolt and resulted in failure to meet the requirements of the mechanical property class. In order to assess the defect, an X-ray examination and metallographic examination of the defective bolt were performed, showing exogenous non-metallic inclusion. The size of the defect on the cross section was 0.531 mm in width and 1.523 mm in length; the defect was continuous along the entire axis of the bolt. In analysis, a finite element method (FEM) simulation of the multi-stage forging process was designed, taking into account a non-metallic inclusion parallel to the sample axis, reflecting the studied case. The process of defect propagation due to material upset in the head area was analyzed. The final forging stage in shaping the dodecagonal socket and filling the flange area was particularly studied. The effect of the defect was observed to significantly reduce the effective cross-section as a result of the expansion of the defect perpendicular to the axis of the bolt. The mechanical properties of products with and without the defect were analyzed. In the first step, the hardness test confirmed that the required value for the mechanical class 8.8 of both bolt types was obtained. In the second step, the bolts were subjected to a static tensile test. The bolts without the defect gave a positive result, while all 10 bolts with the defect gave a negative result, achieving a tensile strength below the requirements. Tensile strength tests were confirmed by metallographic tests and FEM simulation with perpendicular inclusion spread in the area of the head. The bolts were damaged directly under the bolt head, which is inconsistent with the requirements of ISO 898-1. It has been shown that non-metallic inclusions with orientation in accordance with the axis of the bolt can directly cause loss of functionality and these defects should be detected even before assembling in the machine element.

Keywords: continuous casting, multi-stage forging, non-metallic inclusion, upset bolt head

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Authors: Ayad A. Abdulkafi, Shahir F. Nawaf, Mohammed K. Hussein, Ibrahim K. Sileh, Fouad A. Abdulkafi

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Visible light communication (VLC) is a new approach of optical wireless communication proposed to support the congested radio frequency (RF) spectrum. VLC systems are combined with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) to achieve high rate transmission and high spectral efficiency. In this paper, we investigate the Pilot-Assisted Channel Estimation for DC biased Optical OFDM (PACE-DCO-OFDM) systems to reduce the effects of the distortion on the transmitted signal. Least-square (LS) and linear minimum mean-squared error (LMMSE) estimators are implemented in MATLAB/Simulink to enhance the bit-error-rate (BER) of PACE-DCO-OFDM. Results show that DCO-OFDM system based on PACE scheme has achieved better BER performance compared to conventional system without pilot assisted channel estimation. Simulation results show that the proposed PACE-DCO-OFDM based on LMMSE algorithm can more accurately estimate the channel and achieves better BER performance when compared to the LS based PACE-DCO-OFDM and the traditional system without PACE. For the same signal to noise ratio (SNR) of 25 dB, the achieved BER is about 5×10^-4 for LMMSE-PACE and 4.2×10^-3 with LS-PACE while it is about 2×10^-1 for system without PACE scheme.

Keywords: Channel estimation, OFDM, pilot-assist, VLC.

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Authors: Indiramma M., K. R. Anandakumar

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Trust management and Reputation models are becoming integral part of Internet based applications such as CSCW, E-commerce and Grid Computing. Also the trust dimension is a significant social structure and key to social relations within a collaborative community. Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) is a difficult task in the context of distributed environment (information across different geographical locations) and multidisciplinary decisions are involved such as Virtual Organization (VO). To aid team decision making in VO, Decision Support System and social network analysis approaches are integrated. In such situations social learning helps an organization in terms of relationship, team formation, partner selection etc. In this paper we focus on trust learning. Trust learning is an important activity in terms of information exchange, negotiation, collaboration and trust assessment for cooperation among virtual team members. In this paper we have proposed a reinforcement learning which enhances the trust decision making capability of interacting agents during collaboration in problem solving activity. Trust computational model with learning that we present is adapted for best alternate selection of new project in the organization. We verify our model in a multi-agent simulation where the agents in the community learn to identify trustworthy members, inconsistent behavior and conflicting behavior of agents.

Keywords: Collaborative Decision making, Trust, Multi Agent System (MAS), Bayesian Network, Reinforcement Learning.

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Authors: Citlali Aguilera Lira, David Lynch Steinicke, Andrea León Garcia

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One of the challenges that higher education faces is to find how to approach the sustainability in an inclusive way to the student within all the different academic areas, how to move the sustainable development from the abstract field to the operational field. This research comes from the ecoliteracy and the pedagogical praxis as tools for rebuilding the teaching processes inside of universities. The purpose is to determine and describe which are the factors involved in the process of learning particularly in the Greenhouse-School Siembra UV. In the Greenhouse-School Siembra UV, of the University of Veracruz, are cultivated vegetables, medicinal plants and small cornfields under the usage of eco-technologies such as hydroponics, Wickingbed and Hugelkultur, which main purpose is the saving of space, labor and natural resources, as well as function as agricultural production alternatives in the urban and periurban zones. The sample was formed with students from different academic areas and who are actively involved in the greenhouse, as well as institutes from the University of Veracruz and governmental and nongovernmental departments. This project comes from a pedagogic praxis approach, from filling the needs that the different professional profiles of the university students have. All this with the purpose of generate a pragmatic dialogue with the sustainability. It also comes from the necessity to understand the factors that intervene in the students’ praxis. In this manner is how the students are the fundamental unit in the sphere of sustainability. As a result, it is observed that those University of Veracruz students who are involved in the Greenhouse-school, Siembra UV, have enriched in different levels the sense of urban and periurban agriculture because of the diverse academic approaches they have and the interaction between them. It is concluded that the ecotechnologies act as fundamental tools for ecoliteracy in society, where it is strengthen the nutritional and food security from a sustainable development approach.

Keywords: Farming eco-technologies, food security, multidisciplinary, pedagogical praxis.

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Authors: M. Okan Tasar

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Basel III (or the Third Basel Accord) is a global regulatory standard on bank capital adequacy, stress testing and market liquidity risk agreed upon by the members of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in 2010-2011, and scheduled to be introduced from 2013 until 2018. Basel III is a comprehensive set of reform measures. These measures aim to; (1) improve the banking sector-s ability to absorb shocks arising from financial and economic stress, whatever the source, (2) improve risk management and governance, (3) strengthen banks- transparency and disclosures. Similarly the reform target; (1) bank level or micro-prudential, regulation, which will help raise the resilience of individual banking institutions to periods of stress. (2) Macro-prudential regulations, system wide risk that can build up across the banking sector as well as the pro-cyclical implication of these risks over time. These two approaches to supervision are complementary as greater resilience at the individual bank level reduces the risk system wide shocks. Macroeconomic impact of Basel III; OECD estimates that the medium-term impact of Basel III implementation on GDP growth is in the range -0,05 percent to -0,15 percent per year. On the other hand economic output is mainly affected by an increase in bank lending spreads as banks pass a rise in banking funding costs, due to higher capital requirements, to their customers. Consequently the estimated effects on GDP growth assume no active response from monetary policy. Basel III impact on economic output could be offset by a reduction (or delayed increase) in monetary policy rates by about 30 to 80 basis points. The aim of this paper is to create a framework based on the recent regulations in order to prevent financial crises. Thus the need to overcome the global financial crisis will contribute to financial crises that may occur in the future periods. In the first part of the paper, the effects of the global crisis on the banking system examine the concept of financial regulations. In the second part; especially in the financial regulations and Basel III are analyzed. The last section in this paper explored the possible consequences of the macroeconomic impacts of Basel III.

Keywords: Banking Systems, Basel III, Financial regulation, Global Financial Crisis.

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Authors: A. Buruzs, M. F. Hatwágner, A. Torma, L. T. Kóczy

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Recently, an increasing number of researchers have been focusing on working out realistic solutions to sustainability problems. As sustainability issues gain higher importance for organisations, the management of such decisions becomes critical. Knowledge representation is a fundamental issue of complex knowledge based systems. Many types of sustainability problems would benefit from models based on experts’ knowledge. Cognitive maps have been used for analyzing and aiding decision making. A cognitive map can be made of almost any system or problem. A fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) can successfully represent knowledge and human experience, introducing concepts to represent the essential elements and the cause and effect relationships among the concepts to model the behaviour of any system. Integrated waste management systems (IWMS) are complex systems that can be decomposed to non-related and related subsystems and elements, where many factors have to be taken into consideration that may be complementary, contradictory, and competitive; these factors influence each other and determine the overall decision process of the system. The goal of the present paper is to construct an efficient IWMS which considers various factors. The authors’ intention is to propose an expert based system design approach for implementing expert decision support in the area of IWMSs and introduces an appropriate methodology for the development and analysis of group FCM. A framework for such a methodology consisting of the development and application phases is presented.

Keywords: Factors, fuzzy cognitive map, group decision, integrated waste management system.

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Authors: Wan Azuati Wan Omar, Selva Rani John Jasudass, Siti Rohaiza Md Saad

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Background: The objectives of this study were to assess patient’s knowledge of appropriate sublingual glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) use as well as to investigate how patients commonly store and carry their sublingual GTN tablets. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional survey, using a validated researcher-administered questionnaire. The study involved cardiac patients receiving sublingual GTN attending the outpatient and inpatient departments of Taiping Hospital, a non-academic public care hospital. The minimum calculated sample size was 92, but 100 patients were conveniently sampled. Respondents were interviewed on 3 areas, including demographic data, knowledge and use of sublingual GTN. Eight items were used to calculate each subject’s knowledge score and six items were used to calculate use score. Results: Of the 96 patients who consented to participate, majority (96.9%) were well aware of the indication of sublingual GTN. With regards to the mechanism of action of sublingual GTN, 73 (76%) patients did not know how the medication works. Majority of the patients (66.7%) knew about the proper storage of the tablet. In relation to the maximum number of sublingual GTN tablets that can be taken during each angina episode, 36.5% did not know that up to 3 tablets of sublingual GTN can be taken during each episode of angina. Fifty four (56.2%) patients were not aware that they need to replace sublingual GTN every 8 weeks after receiving the tablets. Majority (69.8%) of the patients demonstrated lack of knowledge with regards to the use of sublingual GTN as prevention of chest pain. Conclusion: Overall, patients’ knowledge regarding the self-administration of sublingual GTN is still inadequate. The findings support the need for more frequent reinforcement of patient education, especially in the areas of preventive use, storage and drug stability.

Keywords: Glyceryl trinitrate, knowledge, adherence.

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