Search results for: TQM (total quality management)

Authors: Ticijana Prijon, Branko Ermenc

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Background: Blunt aortic trauma (BAT) includes various morphological changes that occur during deceleration, acceleration and/or body compression in traffic accidents. The various forms of BAT, from limited laceration of the intima to complete transection of the aorta, depends on the force acting on the vessel wall and the tolerance of the aorta to injury. The force depends on the change in velocity, the dynamics of the accident and of the seating position in the car. Tolerance to aortic injury depends on the anatomy, histological structure and pathomorphological alterations due to aging or disease of the aortic wall. An overview of the literature and medical documentation reveals that different terms are used to describe certain forms of BAT, which can lead to misinterpretation of findings or diagnoses. We therefore, propose a classification that would enable uniform systematic screening of all forms of BAT. We have classified BAT into three morphologycal types: TYPE I (intramural), TYPE II (transmural) and TYPE III (multiple) aortic ruptures with appropriate subtypes. Methods: All car accident casualties examined at the Institute of Forensic Medicine from 2001 to 2009 were included in this retrospective study. Autopsy reports were used to determine the occurrence of each morphological type of BAT in deceased drivers, front seat passengers and other passengers in cars and to define the morphology of BAT in relation to the accident dynamics and the age of the fatalities. Results: A total of 391 fatalities in car accidents were included in the study. TYPE I, TYPE II and TYPE III BAT were observed in 10,9%, 55,6% and 33,5%, respectively. The incidence of BAT in drivers, front seat and other passengers was 36,7%, 43,1% and 28,6%, respectively. In frontal collisions, the incidence of BAT was 32,7%, in lateral collisions 54,2%, and in other traffic accidents 29,3%. The average age of fatalities with BAT was 42,8 years and of those without BAT 39,1 years. Conclusion: Identification and early recognition of the risk factors of BAT following a traffic accident is crucial for successful treatment of patients with BAT. Front seat passengers over 50 years of age who have been injured in a lateral collision are the most at risk of BAT.

Keywords: Aorta, blunt trauma, car accidents, morphology, risk factors.

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Authors: Isaac Kofi Mensah

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Governments around the world are adopting Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) because of the important opportunities it provides through E-government (EG) to modernize government public administration processes and delivery of quality and efficient public services. Almost every country in the world is adopting ICT in its public sector administration (EG) to modernize and change the traditional process of government, increase citizen engagement and participation in governance, as well as the provision of timely information to citizens. This paper, therefore, seeks to present the adoption, development and implementation of EG in regions globally, as well as the ICT indicators around the world, which are making EG initiatives successful. Europe leads the world in its EG adoption and development index, followed by the Americas, Asia, Oceania and Africa. There is a gradual growth in ICT indicators in terms of the increase in Internet access and usage, increase in broadband penetration, an increase of individuals using the Internet at home and a decline in fixed telephone use, while the mobile cellular phone has been on the increase year-on-year. Though the lack of ICT infrastructure is a major challenge to EG adoption and implementation around the world, in Africa it is very pervasive, hampering the expansion of Internet access and provision of broadband, and hence is a barrier to the successful adoption, development, and implementation of EG initiatives in countries on the continent. But with the general improvement and increase in ICT indicators around the world, it provides countries in Europe, Americas, Asia, Arab States, Oceania and Africa with the huge opportunity to enhance public service delivery through the adoption of EG. Countries within these regions cannot fail their citizens who desire to enjoy an enhanced and efficient public service delivery from government and its many state institutions.

Keywords: E-government development index, e-government, indicators, information and communication technologies.

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Authors: Nadia El Alami El Hassani, Soukaina Motia, Benachir Bouchikhi, Nezha El Bari

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Doxycycline (DXy) is a cycline antibiotic, most frequently prescribed to treat bacterial infections in veterinary medicine. However, its broad antimicrobial activity and low cost, lead to an intensive use, which can seriously affect human health. Therefore, its spread in the food products has to be monitored. The scope of this work was to synthetize a sensitive and very selective molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) for DXy detection in honey samples. Firstly, the synthesis of this biosensor was performed by casting a layer of carboxylate polyvinyl chloride (PVC-COOH) on the working surface of a gold screen-printed electrode (Au-SPE) in order to bind covalently the analyte under mild conditions. Secondly, DXy as a template molecule was bounded to the activated carboxylic groups, and the formation of MIP was performed by a biocompatible polymer by the mean of polyacrylamide matrix. Then, DXy was detected by measurements of differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). A non-imprinted polymer (NIP) prepared in the same conditions and without the use of template molecule was also performed. We have noticed that the elaborated biosensor exhibits a high sensitivity and a linear behavior between the regenerated current and the logarithmic concentrations of DXy from 0.1 pg.mL⁻¹ to 1000 pg.mL⁻¹. This technic was successfully applied to determine DXy residues in honey samples with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.1 pg.mL⁻¹ and an excellent selectivity when compared to the results of oxytetracycline (OXy) as analogous interfering compound. The proposed method is cheap, sensitive, selective, simple, and is applied successfully to detect DXy in honey with the recoveries of 87% and 95%. Considering these advantages, this system provides a further perspective for food quality control in industrial fields.

Keywords: Electrochemical sensor, molecular imprinted polymer, doxycycline, food control.

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Authors: Quoc Khanh Dang, Thomas Bourdeaud’huy, Khaled Mesghouni, Armand Toguy´eni

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This paper studies a train routing and scheduling problem for busy railway stations. Our objective is to allow trains to be routed in dense areas that are reaching saturation. Unlike traditional methods that allocate all resources to setup a route for a train and until the route is freed, our work focuses on the use of resources as trains progress through the railway node. This technique allows a larger number of trains to be routed simultaneously in a railway node and thus reduces their current saturation. To deal with this problem, this study proposes an abstract model and a mixed-integer linear programming formulation to solve it. The applicability of our method is illustrated on a didactic example.

Keywords: Busy railway stations, mixed-integer linear programming, offline railway station management, train platforming, train routing, train scheduling.

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Authors: P. Parvizi, F. Norouzifard, S.Mohammadi

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The need to implement intelligent highways is much more emphasized with the growth of vehicle production line as well as vehicle intelligence. The control of intelligent vehicles in order to reduce human error and boost ease congestion is not accomplished solely by the aid of human resources. The present article is an attempt to introduce an intelligent control system based on a single central computer. In this project, central computer, without utilizing Global Positioning System (GPS), is capable of tracking all vehicles, crisis management and control, traffic guidance and recording traffic crimes along the highway. By the help of RFID technology, vehicles are connected to computerized systems, intelligent light poles and other available hardware along the way. By the aid of Wimax communicative technology, all components of the system are virtually connected together through local and global networks devised in them and the energy of the network is provided by the solar cells installed on the intelligent light poles.

Keywords: intelligent highway, intelligent light pole, highway automation

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Authors: Kaveh Mollazade, Hojat Ahmadi, Mahmoud Omid, Reza Alimardani

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Recently, the issue of machine condition monitoring and fault diagnosis as a part of maintenance system became global due to the potential advantages to be gained from reduced maintenance costs, improved productivity and increased machine availability. The aim of this work is to investigate the effectiveness of a new fault diagnosis method based on power spectral density (PSD) of vibration signals in combination with decision trees and fuzzy inference system (FIS). To this end, a series of studies was conducted on an external gear hydraulic pump. After a test under normal condition, a number of different machine defect conditions were introduced for three working levels of pump speed (1000, 1500, and 2000 rpm), corresponding to (i) Journal-bearing with inner face wear (BIFW), (ii) Gear with tooth face wear (GTFW), and (iii) Journal-bearing with inner face wear plus Gear with tooth face wear (B&GW). The features of PSD values of vibration signal were extracted using descriptive statistical parameters. J48 algorithm is used as a feature selection procedure to select pertinent features from data set. The output of J48 algorithm was employed to produce the crisp if-then rule and membership function sets. The structure of FIS classifier was then defined based on the crisp sets. In order to evaluate the proposed PSD-J48-FIS model, the data sets obtained from vibration signals of the pump were used. Results showed that the total classification accuracy for 1000, 1500, and 2000 rpm conditions were 96.42%, 100%, and 96.42% respectively. The results indicate that the combined PSD-J48-FIS model has the potential for fault diagnosis of hydraulic pumps.

Keywords: Power Spectral Density, Machine ConditionMonitoring, Hydraulic Pump, Fuzzy Logic.

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Authors: Gianluca Cornetta, Abdellah Touhafi, David J. Santos, Jose Manuel Vazquez

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In this work a new platform for mobile-health systems is presented. System target application is providing decision support to rescue corps or military medical personnel in combat areas. Software architecture relies on a distributed client-server system that manages a wireless ad-hoc networks hierarchy in which several different types of client operate. Each client is characterized for different hardware and software requirements. Lower hierarchy levels rely in a network of completely custom devices that store clinical information and patient status and are designed to form an ad-hoc network operating in the 2.4 GHz ISM band and complying with the IEEE 802.15.4 standard (ZigBee). Medical personnel may interact with such devices, that are called MICs (Medical Information Carriers), by means of a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) or a MDA (Medical Digital Assistant), and transmit the information stored in their local databases as well as issue a service request to the upper hierarchy levels by using IEEE 802.11 a/b/g standard (WiFi). The server acts as a repository that stores both medical evacuation forms and associated events (e.g., a teleconsulting request). All the actors participating in the diagnostic or evacuation process may access asynchronously to such repository and update its content or generate new events. The designed system pretends to optimise and improve information spreading and flow among all the system components with the aim of improving both diagnostic quality and evacuation process.

Keywords: IEEE 802.15.4 (ZigBee), IEEE 802.11 a/b/g (WiFi), distributed client-server systems, embedded databases, issue trackers, ad-hoc networks.

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Authors: Matthew O. Ikuabe, Ayodeji E. Oke, Clinton O. Aigbavboa, Douglas O. Aghimien, Tshepo P. Mokori

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The use of technological innovations has been touted to be beneficial in the delivery of construction projects. Particularly, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is widely regarded to be of immense advantage for the management of construction projects. This study focused on evaluating the barriers to the use of RFID technology for the delivery of construction projects. Using Gauteng Province in South Africa as the study area, questionnaire was used in eliciting responses from construction professionals which made up the population of the study. Retrieved data were analyzed using Mean Item Score and One-Sample t-test. Findings from the study showed that the most significant barriers to the deployment of RFID for construction project delivery are high cost and lack of awareness. Conclusively, the study made recommendations that would aid in the abatement of the barriers to the use of RFID technology for construction project delivery.

Keywords: Barriers, construction, project delivery, RFID.

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Authors: Subarna Ferdous, Mitsuru Ikeda

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For the shrimp companies to remain relevant to its local and international consumers, they must offer new shrimp product and services. It must work actively not just to create value for the consumer, but to involve the consumer in co-creating value for shrimp product innovation in the market. In this theoretical work, we conceptualize the business concept of value co-creation in the context of shrimp products, and propose a framework of value co-creation for shrimp product innovation in shrimp industries. With guidance on value co-creation in in shrimp industry, and shrimp value chain actors mapped to the co-creation cycle, companies can use the framework to offer new shrimp product to consumer communities. Although customer co-creation is known approach in the world, it is not commonly used by the companies in Bangladesh. This paper makes an original contribution by conceptualizing co-creation and set the examples of best co-creation practices in food sector. The results of the study provide management with guidelines for successful co-creation projects with an innovation- and market-oriented approach. The framework also provides a basis for further research in this area.

Keywords: Bangladesh, shrimp industry, shrimp product, value co-creation.

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Authors: M. Ezzat, Y. Zaghloul, T. Sorour, A. Hefny, M. Eid

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Ultimate capacity of large diameter bored piles is usually determined from pile loading tests as recommended by several international codes and foundation design standards. However, loading of this type of piles till achieving apparent failure is practically seldom. In this paper, numerical analyses are carried out to simulate load test of a large diameter bored pile performed at the location of Alzey highway bridge project (Germany). Test results of pile load settlement relationship till failure as well as results of the base and shaft resistances are available. Apparent failure was indicated in this test by the significant increase of the induced settlement during the last load increment applied on the pile head. Measurements of this pile load test are used to assess the quality of the numerical models investigated. Three different material soil models are implemented in the analyses: Mohr coulomb (MC), Soft soil (SS), and Modified Mohr coulomb (MMC). Very good agreement is obtained between the field measured settlement and the calculated settlement using the MMC model. Results of analysis showed also that the MMC constitutive model is superior to MC, and SS models in predicting the ultimate base and shaft resistances of the large diameter bored pile. After calibrating the numerical model, behavior of large diameter bored piles under axial loads is discussed and the formation of the plastic zone around the pile is explored. Results obtained showed that the plastic zone below the base of the pile at failure extended laterally to about four times the pile diameter and vertically to about three times the pile diameter.

Keywords: Ultimate capacity, large diameter bored piles, plastic zone, failure, pile load test.

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Authors: Hafid Mohamed Amine, Nechniche H.

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The major urban centers are all facing rapid growth is most often associated with spreading urbanization, social status of the car has also changed: it has become a commodity of mass consumption. There are currently about 5 million and 260 cars in Algeria (2008), this number increases every year 200,000 new cars. These phenomena induce a demand for greater mobility and a significant need for transport infrastructure. Faced with these problems and development of the growing use of the automobile, central governments and local authorities in charge of urban transport issues are aware of the need to develop their urban transport systems but often lack opportunities. Urban Transport Plans (PDU) were born in reaction to the "culture of automobile." Their existence in the world the '80s, however, they had little success before laws on air and rational use of energy in 90 years does not alter substantially their content and make mandatory their implementation in cities of over 100,000 inhabitants (Abroad) [1]. The objective of this work is to use the tool and specifically Geomatics techniques as decision support in the organization and management of travel while taking into consideration the influence, which will then translate by National Urban Transport Plan.

Keywords: Geomatic, GIS, PDU, planning, transport.

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Authors: Ivana Šimonová

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As widely accepted, didactic multiple-choice tests are referred as a tool providing feedback easily and quickly. Despite the final test scores are corrected by a special formula and number of high plausibility distractors is taken into consideration, the results may be influenced by the random choice. The survey was held in three academic years at the Faculty of Informatics and Management, University of Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic, where the multiple-choice test scores were compared to the open-answer ones. The research sample included 567 respondents. The collected data were processed by the NCSS2007 statistic software by the method of frequency and multiple regression analysis and presented in the form of figures and tables. The results proved statistically significant differences in test scores in academic years 2 and 3, and were discussed from the point of the credit system and conditions for teaching/learning English in the Czech education system.

Keywords: ESP, higher education, multiple-choice test, open-answer test.

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Authors: Irfan Ahmad, Tahir Siddiqui, Rashid Ahmad Khan, Tahir Munir Butt

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An effort to find out the smaller size of cuttings for propagation of Morus alba was made in experimental area Department of Forestry, Range Management and Wildlife, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Different size of cuttings i.e. 2", 4", 6" and 8" were planted in polythene tubes of 3.5"x7". The effort was also made to compare the performance of cuttings in open air and in polythene low tunnel. Root length, number of root branches, root diameter and root fresh and dry weight were found maximum in two inches cuttings while minimum in four inches cuttings. Root growth was found maximum in open air as compared to under polythene sheet.

Keywords: cutting sizes Morus alba, Open air and polythene sheet, root growth

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Authors: Suken Nayak, Aditya Kambli, Bharati Ingale, Gauri Shukla

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The technological concepts such as wireless hospital and portable cardiac telemetry system require the development of physiological signal acquisition devices to be easily integrated into the hospital database. In this paper we present the low cost, portable wireless ECG acquisition hardware that transmits ECG signals to a dedicated computer.The front end of the system obtains and processes incoming signals, which are then transmitted via a microcontroller and wireless Bluetooth module. A monitoring purpose Bluetooth based end user application integrated with patient database management module is developed for the computers. The system will act as a continuous event recorder, which can be used to follow up patients who have been resuscitatedfrom cardiac arrest, ventricular tachycardia but also for diagnostic purposes for patients with arrhythmia symptoms. In addition, cardiac information can be saved into the patient-s database of the hospital.

Keywords: ECG, Bluetooth communication, monitoring application, patient database

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Authors: Md. Masum Billah, Mohiuddin Ahmed, Soheli Farhana

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In modern day disaster recovery mission has become one of the top priorities in any natural disaster management regime. Smart autonomous robots may play a significant role in such missions, including search for life under earth quake hit rubbles, Tsunami hit islands, de-mining in war affected areas and many other such situations. In this paper current state of many walking robots are compared and advantages of hexapod systems against wheeled robots are described. In our research we have selected a hexapod spider robot; we are developing focusing mainly on efficient navigation method in different terrain using apposite gait of locomotion, which will make it faster and at the same time energy efficient to navigate and negotiate difficult terrain. This paper describes the method of terrain negotiation navigation in a hazardous field.

Keywords: Walking robots, locomotion, hexapod robot, gait, hazardous field.

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Authors: Turhan Koyuncu, Fuat Lule

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The most common domestic birds live in Turkey are: crows (Corvus corone), pigeons (Columba livia), sparrows (Passer domesticus), starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) and blackbirds (Turdus merula). These birds give damage to the agricultural areas and make dirty the human life areas. In order to send away these birds, some different materials and methods such as chemicals, treatments, colored lights, flash and audible scarers are used. It is possible to see many studies about chemical methods in the literatures. However there is not enough works regarding audible bird scarers are reported in the literature. Therefore, a solar powered bird scarer was designed, manufactured and tested in this experimental investigation. Firstly, to understand the sensitive level of these domestic birds against to the audible scarer, many series preliminary studies were conducted. These studies showed that crows are the most resistant against to the audible bird scarer when compared with pigeons, sparrows, starlings and blackbirds. Therefore the solar powered audible bird scarer was tested on crows. The scarer was tested about one month during April- May, 2007. 18 different common known predators- sounds (voices or calls) of domestic birds from Falcon (Falco eleonorae), Falcon (Buteo lagopus), Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), Montagu-s harrier (Circus pygargus) and Owl (Glaucidium passerinum) were selected for test of the scarer. It was seen from the results that the reaction of the birds was changed depending on the predators- sound type, camouflage of the scarer, sound quality and volume, loudspeaker play and pause periods in one application. In addition, it was also seen that the sound from Falcon (Buteo lagopus) was most effective on crows and the scarer was enough efficient.

Keywords: Bird damage, Audible scarer, Solar powered scarer, Predator sound

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Authors: Ezinne M. Igwe

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Statements of facts have been made about Nollywood, a segment of the Nigerian film industry that has in recent times become phenomenal due largely to its quantity of production and specific production style. In the face of recent transformations reshaping the industry, matters have been arising which have not been given due academic attention from an industry player perspective. While re-addressing such issues like structure, policy and informality, this study benefits from a new perspective – that of a community member adopting participant observation to research into a familiar culture. With data drawn from an extensive ethnographic study of the industry, this paper examines these matters with an emphasis on structure and the industry’s overall political economy. Drawing from discourses on the new and old Nollywood labels and other current matters arising within the industry such as the MOPICON bill redraft, corporate financing and possibilities of regeneration, this paper examines structure and power struggle within Nollywood. These are championing regenerative processes that bring about formalization, professionalism and the quest for a transnational presence, which have only been superficially evaluated. Focused essentially on Nollywood’s political economy, this study critically analyses the transforming face of an informal industry, the consistent quest for structure, quality and standard, and issues of corporate sponsorship as possible trends of regeneration. It evaluates them as indicators of regeneration, questioning the possibilities of their sustenance in an industry experiencing increased interactions with the formal economy and an influx of young professionals. With findings that make sustained regeneration both certain (due to increased formal economy interaction) and uncertain (due to the dysfunctionality of the society and its political system), it concludes that the transforming face of the industry suggests impending gentrification of the industry.

Keywords: Formalization, MOPICON, Nollywood, Structure.

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Authors: F. I. Belheouane, M. Bensaibi

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The seismic feedback experiences in Algeria have shown higher percentage of damages for non-code conforming reinforced concrete (RC) buildings. Furthermore, the vulnerability of these buildings was further aggravated due to presence of many factors (e.g. weak the seismic capacity of these buildings, shorts columns, Pounding effect, etc.). Consequently Seismic risk assessments were carried out on populations of buildings to identify the buildings most likely to undergo losses during an earthquake. The results of such studies are important in the mitigation of losses under future seismic events as they allow strengthening intervention and disaster management plans to be drawn up. Within this paper, the state of the existing structures is assessed using "the vulnerability index" method. This method allows the classification of RC constructions taking into account both, structural and non structural parameters, considered to be ones of the main parameters governing the vulnerability of the structure. Based on seismic feedback from past earthquakes DPM (damage probability matrices) were developed too.

Keywords: Seismic vulnerability, Reinforced concrete buildings, Earthquake, DPM, Algeria.

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Authors: Taha Landolsi, A. R. Al-Ali, Tarik Ozkul, Mohammad A. Al-Rousan

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In this paper, we present a cost-effective wireless distributed load shedding system for non-emergency scenarios. In power transformer locations where SCADA system cannot be used, the proposed solution provides a reasonable alternative that combines the use of microcontrollers and existing GSM infrastructure to send early warning SMS messages to users advising them to proactively reduce their power consumption before system capacity is reached and systematic power shutdown takes place. A novel communication protocol and message set have been devised to handle the messaging between the transformer sites, where the microcontrollers are located and where the measurements take place, and the central processing site where the database server is hosted. Moreover, the system sends warning messages to the endusers mobile devices that are used as communication terminals. The system has been implemented and tested via different experimental results.

Keywords: Smart Grid, Load shedding, Demand SideManagement, GSM Wireless Networks, SCADA systems.

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Authors: Janet L. Kourik, Jiangping Wang

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Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is a form of cloud computing that relieves the user of the burden of hardware and software installation and management. SaaS can be used at the course level to enhance curricula and student experience. When cloud computing and SaaS are included in educational literature, the focus is typically on implementing administrative functions. Yet, SaaS can make more immediate and substantial contributions to the technical course content in educational offerings. This paper explores cloud computing and SaaS, provides examples, reports on experiences using SaaS to offer specialized software in courses, and analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of using SaaS at the course level. The paper contributes to the literature in higher education by analyzing the major technical concepts, potential, and constraints for using SaaS to deliver specialized software at the course level. Further it may enable more educators and students to benefit from this emerging technology.

Keywords: Cloud computing, software-as-a-service, e-service, higher education.

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Authors: S. M. Monavari, P. Hoasami, S. Tajziehchi, N. Khorramichokami.

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The practice of burying the solid waste under the ground is one of the waste disposal methods and dumping is known as an ultimate method in the fastest-growing cities like Rasht city in Iran. Some municipalities select the solid waste landfills without feasibility studies, programming, design and management plans. Therefore, several social and environmental impacts are created by these sites. In this study, the suitability of solid waste landfill in Rasht city, capital of Gilan Province is reviewed using Regional Screening Method (RSM), Geographic Information System (GIS) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The results indicated that according to the suitability maps, the value of study site is midsuitable to suitable based on RSM and mid-suitable based on AHP.

Keywords: Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), Geographic Information System (GIS), Rasht City, Regional Screening Method (RSM), Solid Waste Landfill

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Authors: Henry J. Wattimanela, Udjianna S. Pasaribu, Nanang T. Puspito, Sapto W. Indratno

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Banda Sea Collision Zone (BSCZ) is the result of the interaction and convergence of Indo-Australian plate, Eurasian plate and Pacific plate. This location is located in eastern Indonesia. This zone has a very high seismic activity. In this research, we will calculate the rate (λ) and Mean Square Error (MSE). By this result, we will classification earthquakes distribution in the BSCZ with the point process approach. Chi-square is used to determine the type of earthquakes distribution in the sub region of BSCZ. The data used in this research is data of earthquakes with a magnitude ≥ 6 SR for the period 1964-2013 and sourced from BMKG Jakarta. This research is expected to contribute to the Moluccas Province and surrounding local governments in performing spatial plan document related to disaster management.

Keywords: Banda sea collision zone, earthquakes, mean square error, Poisson distribution, chi-square test.

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Authors: Jaakko Parviainen, Keijo Haataja, Antti Väänänen, Pekka Toivanen

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Tablet computers and Multifunctional Hardcopy Devices (MHDs) are common devices in daily life. Though, many scientific studies have not been published. The tablet computers are straightforward to use whereas the MHDs are comparatively difficult to use. Thus, to assist different levels of users, we propose combining these two devices to achieve straightforward intelligent user interface (UI) and versatile What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) document management and production. Our approach to this issue is to design an intelligent user dependent UI for a MHD applying a tablet computer. Furthermore, we propose hardware interconnection and versatile intelligent software between these two devices. In this study, we first provide a state-of-the-art survey on MHDs and tablet computers, and their interconnections. Secondly we provide a comparative UI survey on two state-of-the-art MHDs with a proposal of a novel UI for the MHDs using Jakob Nielsen-s Ten Usability Heuristics Evaluation.

Keywords: Computational intelligence, hardcopy device, tablet computer, user interface.

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Authors: Michael T. Miller, G. David Gearhart

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Shared governance is an important element in higher education decision making. Through the joint decision making process, faculty members are provided an opportunity to help shape the future of an institution while increasing support for decisions that are made. Presidents, those leaders who are legally bound to guide their institutions, must find ways to collaborate effectively with faculty members in making decisions, and the first step in this process is understanding when and how presidents and faculty leaders interact. In the current study, a national sample of college presidents reported their preparation for the presidency, their perceptions of the functions of a faculty senate, and ultimately, the locations for important interactions between presidents and faculty senates. Results indicated that presidents, regardless of their preparation, found official functions to be the most important for communicating, although, those presidents with academic backgrounds were more likely to perceive faculty senates as having a role in all aspects of an institutions management.

Keywords: College faculty, college president, faculty senate, leadership.

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Authors: P.Cordero, R.Poler, R.Sanchis

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The environmental impacts caused by the current production and consumption models, together with the impact that the current economic crisis, bring necessary changes in the European industry toward new business models based on sustainability issues that could allow them to innovate and improve their competitiveness. This paper analyzes the key environmental issues and the current and future market trends in one of the most important industrial sectors in Spain, the furniture sector. It also proposes new decision support tools -diagnostic kit, roadmap and guidelines- to guide companies to implement sustainability criteria into their organizations, including eco-design strategies and other economical and social strategies in accordance with the sustainability definition, and other available tools such as eco-labels, environmental management systems, etc., and to use and combine them to obtain the results the company expects to help improve its competitiveness.

Keywords: Furniture sector, eco-design, sustainability, economical crisis, market trends, roadmap

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Authors: Melis Inalpulat, Levent Genc, Unal Kizil, Tugce Civelek

Abstract:

Livestock production is one of the most important components of rural economy. Due to the urban expansion, rural areas close to expanding cities transform into urban districts during the time. However, the legislations have some restrictions related to livestock farming in such administrative units since they tend to create environmental concerns like odor problems resulted from excessive manure production. Therefore, the existing animal operations should be moved from the settlement areas. This paper was focused on determination of suitable lands for livestock production in Canakkale province of Turkey using remote sensing (RS) data and GIS techniques. To achieve the goal, Formosat 2 and Landsat 8 imageries, Aster DEM, and 1:25000 scaled soil maps, village boundaries, and village livestock inventory records were used. The study was conducted using suitability analysis which evaluates the land in terms of limitations and potentials, and suitability range was categorized as Suitable (S) and Non-Suitable (NS). Limitations included the distances from main and crossroads, water resources and settlements, while potentials were appropriate values for slope, land use capability and land use land cover status. Village-based S land distribution results were presented, and compared with livestock inventories. Results showed that approximately 44230 ha area is inappropriate because of the distance limitations for roads and etc. (NS). Moreover, according to LULC map, 71052 ha area consists of forests, olive and other orchards, and thus, may not be suitable for building such structures (NS). In comparison, it was found that there are a total of 1228 ha S lands within study area. The village-based findings indicated that, in some villages livestock production continues on NS areas. Finally, it was suggested that organized livestock zones may be constructed to serve in more than one village after the detailed analysis complemented considering also political decisions, opinion of the local people, etc.

Keywords: GIS, livestock, LULC, remote sensing, suitable lands.

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Authors: Ivana Tadić, Željana Aljinović Barać, Nikolina Plazonić

Abstract:

Living today in turbulent business environment forces companies to distinguish from each other, securing sustainable competitive growth and competitive advantage. The best possible solution is to invest (effort and financial resources) within companies’ different practices of human resource management (HRM), more specifically in employees’ knowledge, skills and abilities. Applying this approach companies will create enviable level of human capital securing its economic growth. Employees become human capital for their employers at the moment when they contribute with their own knowledge and abilities in creating material and non-material value of the company. The main aim of this research is to explore the relations between human capital investments and business excellence of Croatian companies. Furthermore, the differences in the level of human capital investments with regard to several companies’ characteristics (e.g. size of the company, ownership and type of the industry) are investigated.

Keywords:

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Authors: Hassan Ghasemzadeh, Sepideh Mazrouee, Hassan Goldani Moghaddam, Hamid Shojaei, Mohammad Reza Kakoee

Abstract:

Block replacement algorithms to increase hit ratio have been extensively used in cache memory management. Among basic replacement schemes, LRU and FIFO have been shown to be effective replacement algorithms in terms of hit rates. In this paper, we introduce a flexible stack-based circuit which can be employed in hardware implementation of both LRU and FIFO policies. We propose a simple and efficient architecture such that stack-based replacement algorithms can be implemented without the drawbacks of the traditional architectures. The stack is modular and hence, a set of stack rows can be cascaded depending on the number of blocks in each cache set. Our circuit can be implemented in conjunction with the cache controller and static/dynamic memories to form a cache system. Experimental results exhibit that our proposed circuit provides an average value of 26% improvement in storage bits and its maximum operating frequency is increased by a factor of two

Keywords: Cache Memory, Replacement Algorithms, LeastRecently Used Algorithm, First In First Out Algorithm.

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Authors: Jay M. Joshi, Upena D. Dalal

Abstract:

Multimedia information availability has increased dramatically with the advent of video broadcasting on handheld devices. But with this availability comes problems of maintaining the security of information that is displayed in public. ISMA Encryption and Authentication (ISMACryp) is one of the chosen technologies for service protection in DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting- Handheld), the TV system for portable handheld devices. The ISMACryp is encoded with H.264/AVC (advanced video coding), while leaving all structural data as it is. Two modes of ISMACryp are available; the CTR mode (Counter type) and CBC mode (Cipher Block Chaining) mode. Both modes of ISMACryp are based on 128- bit AES algorithm. AES algorithms are more complex and require larger time for execution which is not suitable for real time application like live TV. The proposed system aims to gain a deep understanding of video data security on multimedia technologies and to provide security for real time video applications using selective encryption for H.264/AVC. Five level of security proposed in this paper based on the content of NAL unit in Baseline Constrain profile of H.264/AVC. The selective encryption in different levels provides encryption of intra-prediction mode, residue data, inter-prediction mode or motion vectors only. Experimental results shown in this paper described that fifth level which is ISMACryp provide higher level of security with more encryption time and the one level provide lower level of security by encrypting only motion vectors with lower execution time without compromise on compression and quality of visual content. This encryption scheme with compression process with low cost, and keeps the file format unchanged with some direct operations supported. Simulation was being carried out in Matlab.

Keywords: AES-128, CAVLC, H.264, ISMACryp

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Authors: Yousef Daneshvar Rouyandozagh, Ece. K. Açikgöz

Abstract:

Conservation of historical urban patterns in the traditional neighborhoods is a part of creating integrated urban environments that are socially more sustainable. Urbanization reflects on life conditions and social, physical, economical characteristics of the society. In this regard, historical zones and traditional regions are affected by dramatic interventions on these characteristics. This article focuses on the Uch Dukkan neighborhood located in Ardabil City in Azarbaijani region of Iran, which has been up to such interventions that leaded its transformation from the past to the present. After introducing a brief inventory of the main elements of the historical zone and the neighborhood; this study explores the changes and transformations in different periods; and their impacts on the quality of the environment and its social sustainability. The survey conducted in the neighborhood as part of this research study revealed that the Uch Dukkan neighborhood and the unique architectural heritage that it possesses have become more inactive physically and functionally in a decade. This condition requires an exploration and comparison of the present and the expected transformations of the meaning of social space from the most private unit to the urban scale. From this token, it is argued that an architectural point of view that is based on space order; use and meaning of space as a social and cultural image, should not be ignored. Based on the interplay between social sustainability, collective memory, and the urban environment, study aims to make the invisible portion of ignorance clear, that ends up with a weakness in defining the collective meaning of the neighborhood as a historic urban district. It reveals that the spatial possessions of the neighborhood are valuable not only for their historical and physical characteristics, but also for their social memory that is to be remembered and constructed further.

Keywords: Urban integrity, social sustainability, collective memory, social decay.

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