Search results for: Top Fifty Most Active Companies Index
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 2640

Search results for: Top Fifty Most Active Companies Index

2610 Social Business Process Management and Business Process Management Maturity

Authors: Dalia Suša Vugec, Vesna Bosilj Vukšić, Ljubica Milanović Glavan

Abstract:

Business process management (BPM) is a well-known holistic discipline focused on managing business processes with the intention of achieving higher level of BPM maturity and better organizational performance. In recent period, traditional BPM faced some of its limitations like model-reality divide and lost innovation. Following latest trends, as an attempt to overcome the issues of traditional BPM, there has been an introduction of applying the principles of social software in managing business processes which led to the development of social BPM. However, there are not many authors or studies dealing with this topic so this study aims to contribute to that literature gap and to examine the link between the level of BPM maturity and the usage of social BPM. To meet these objectives, a survey within the companies with more than 50 employees has been conducted. The results reveal that the usage of social BPM is higher within the companies which achieved higher level of BPM maturity. This paper provides an overview, analysis and discussion of collected data regarding BPM maturity and social BPM within the observed companies and identifies the main social BPM principles.

Keywords: Business process management, BPM maturity, process performance index, social BPM.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1599
2609 A Study on the Importance of Motivation among the Managers in Construction Companies in Medan

Authors: A.Marisa, Nor'Aini Yusof

Abstract:

Managers as the key employees have a very important role in maintaining the workforce performance which is critical to the construction companies- success in the future. If motivated employees start with motivated managers probably it would seem plausible if the de-motivated ones start with de-motivated managers. This study aims to analyze the importance of motivated managers to their successes and construction companies- successes. In this study, a quantitative method was used and the study area was in Medan, North Sumatera. Questionnaire survey was distributed directly to construction companies in Medan which are listed in the Construction Services Development Board. A total of 60 managers responded and the completed questionnaires were analyzed using the descriptive analysis. The results indicated that the respondents acknowledge the importance of motivation among themselves to the projects and construction companies- success, implying that it is vital o maintain the motivation and good performance of the workforce.

Keywords: construction companies, managers, motivation

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1679
2608 The Effect of Response Feedback on Performance of Active Controlled Nonlinear Frames

Authors: M. Mohebbi, K. Shakeri

Abstract:

The effect of different combinations of response feedback on the performance of active control system on nonlinear frames has been studied in this paper. To this end different feedback combinations including displacement, velocity, acceleration and full response feedback have been utilized in controlling the response of an eight story bilinear hysteretic frame which has been subjected to a white noise excitation and controlled by eight actuators which could fully control the frame. For active control of nonlinear frame Newmark nonlinear instantaneous optimal control algorithm has been used which a diagonal matrix has been selected for weighting matrices in performance index. For optimal design of active control system while the objective has been to reduce the maximum drift to below the yielding level, Distributed Genetic Algorithm (DGA) has been used to determine the proper set of weighting matrices. The criteria to assess the effect of each combination of response feedback have been the minimum required control force to reduce the maximum drift to below the yielding drift. The results of numerical simulation show that the performance of active control system is dependent on the type of response feedback where the velocity feedback is more effective in designing optimal control system in comparison with displacement and acceleration feedback. Also using full feedback of response in controller design leads to minimum control force amongst other combinations. Also the distributed genetic algorithm shows acceptable convergence speed in solving the optimization problem of designing active control systems.

Keywords: Active control, Distributed genetic algorithms, Response feedback, Weighting matrices.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1373
2607 Energy Efficiency Index Applied to Reactive Systems

Authors: P. Góes, J. Manzi

Abstract:

This paper focuses on the development of an energy efficiency index that will be applied to reactive systems, which is based in the First and Second Law of Thermodynamics, by giving particular consideration to the concept of maximum entropy. Among the requirements of such energy efficiency index, the practical feasibility must be essential. To illustrate the performance of the proposed index, such an index was used as decisive factor of evaluation for the optimization process of an industrial reactor. The results allow the conclusion to be drawn that the energy efficiency index applied to the reactive system is consistent because it extracts the information expected of an efficient indicator, and that it is useful as an analytical tool besides being feasible from a practical standpoint. Furthermore, it has proved to be much simpler to use than tools based on traditional methodologies.

Keywords: Energy efficiency, maximum entropy, reactive systems.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1094
2606 Bronchospasm Analysis Following the Implementation of a Program of Maximum Aerobic Exercise in Active Men

Authors: Sajjad Shojaeidoust, Mohsen Ghanbarzadeh, Abdolhamid Habibi

Abstract:

Exercise-induced bronchospasm (EIB) is a transitory condition of airflow obstruction that is associated with physical activities. It is noted that high ventilation can lead to an increase in the heat and reduce in the moisture in airways resistance of trachea. Also causes of pathophysiological mechanism are EIB. Accordingly, studying some parameters of pulmonary function (FVC, FEV1) among active people seems quintessential. The aim of this study was to analyze bronchospasm following the implementation of a program of maximum aerobic exercise in active men at Chamran University of Ahwaz. Method: In this quasi-experimental study, the population consisted of all students at Chamran University. Among from 55 participants, of which, 15 were randomly selected as the experimental group. In this study, the size of the maximum oxygen consumption was initially measured, and then, based on the maximum oxygen consumed, the active individuals were identified. After five minutes’ warm-up, Strand treadmill exercise test was taken (one session) and pulmonary parameters were measured at both pre- and post-tests (spirometer). After data normalization using KS and non-normality of the data, the Wilcoxon test was used to analyze the data. The significance level for all statistical surveys was considered p≤0/05. Results: The results showed that the ventilation factors and bronchospasm (FVC, FEV1) in the pre-test and post-test resulted in no significant difference among the active people (p≥0/05). Discussion and conclusion: Based on the results observed in this study, it appears that pulmonary indices in active individuals increased after aerobic test. The increase in this indicator in active people is due to increased volume and elasticity of the lungs as well. In other words, pulmonary index is affected by rib muscles. It is considered that progress over respiratory muscle strength and endurance has raised FEV1 in the active cases.

Keywords: Bronchospasm, aerobic active maximum, pulmonary function, spirometer.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1103
2605 Predicting Individual Investors- Intention to Invest: An Experimental Analysis of Attitude as a Mediator

Authors: Azwadi Ali

Abstract:

The survival of publicly listed companies largely depends on their stocks being liquidly traded. This goal can be achieved when new investors are attracted to invest on companies- stocks. Among different groups of investors, individual investors are generally less able to objectively evaluate companies- risks and returns, and tend to be emotionally biased in their investing decisions. Therefore their decisions may be formed as a result of perceived risks and returns, and influenced by companies- images. This study finds that perceived risk, perceived returns and trust directly affect individual investors- trading decisions while attitude towards brand partially mediates the relationships. This finding suggests that, in courting individual investors, companies still need to perform financially while building a good image can result in their stocks being accepted quicker than the stocks of good performing companies with hidden images.

Keywords: Behavioral Finance, Investment, Attitude towardsBrand, Partial Least Squares

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3561
2604 Human Resources Management Practices in Hospitality Companies

Authors: Dora Martins, Susana Silva, Cândida Silva

Abstract:

Human Resources Management (HRM) has been recognized by academics and practitioners as an important element in organizations. Therefore, this paper explores the best practices of HRM and seeks to understand the level of participation in the development of these practices by human resources managers in the hospitality industry and compare it with other industries. Thus, the study compared the HRM practices of companies in the hospitality sector with HRM practices of companies in other sectors, and identifies the main differences between their HRM practices. The results show that the most frequent HRM practices in all companies, independently of its sector of activity, are hiring and training. When comparing hospitality sector with other sectors of activity, some differences were noticed, namely in the adoption of the practices of communication and information sharing, and of recruitment and selection. According to these results, the paper discusses the major theoretical and practical implications. Suggestions for future research are also presented.

Keywords: Human resources management practices, human resources manager, hospitality companies, Portuguese companies, exploratory study.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3403
2603 A Novel Spectral Index for Automatic Shadow Detection in Urban Mapping Based On WorldView-2 Satellite Imagery

Authors: Kaveh Shahi, Helmi Z. M. Shafri, Ebrahim Taherzadeh

Abstract:

In remote sensing, shadow causes problems in many applications such as change detection and classification. It is caused by objects which are elevated, thus can directly affect the accuracy of information. For these reasons, it is very important to detect shadows particularly in urban high spatial resolution imagery which created a significant problem. This paper focuses on automatic shadow detection based on a new spectral index for multispectral imagery known as Shadow Detection Index (SDI). The new spectral index was tested on different areas of WorldView-2 images and the results demonstrated that the new spectral index has a massive potential to extract shadows with accuracy of 94% effectively and automatically. Furthermore, the new shadow detection index improved road extraction from 82% to 93%.

Keywords: Spectral index, shadow detection, remote sensing images, WorldView-2.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3289
2602 Public Transport: Punctuality Index for Bus Operation

Authors: Noorfakhriah Yaakub, Madzlan Napiah

Abstract:

Public bus service plays a significant role in our society as people movers and to facilitate travels within towns and districts. The quality of service of public bus is always being regarded as poor, or rather, underestimated as second class means of transportation. Reliability of service, or the ability to deliver service as planned, is one key element in perceiving the quality of bus service and the punctuality index is one of the performance parameters in determining the service reliability. This study concentrates on evaluating the reliability performance of bus operation using punctuality index assessment. A week data for each of six city bus routes is recorded using the on-board methodology to calculate the punctuality index for city bus service in Kota Bharu. The results revealed that the punctuality index for the whole city bus network is 94.25% (LOS B).

Keywords: Punctuality Index, Reliability Performance, Service Performance.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3819
2601 Business Diversification Strategies in the Italian Energy Markets

Authors: F. Di Pillo, G. Capece, L. Cricelli, N. Levialdi

Abstract:

The liberalization and privatization processes have forced public utility companies to face new competitive challenges, implementing strategies to gain market share and, at the same time, keep the old customers. To this end, many companies have carried out mergers, acquisitions and conglomerations in order to diversify their business. This paper focuses on companies operating in the free energy market in Italy. In the last decade, this sector has undergone profound changes that have radically changed the competitive scenario and have led companies to implement diversification strategies of the business. Our work aims to evaluate the economic and financial performances obtained by energy companies, following the beginning of the liberalization process, verifying the possible relationship with the implemented diversification strategies.

Keywords: Business diversification strategies, M&A, the Italian energy market liberalization, economic and financial performances.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2109
2600 Corporate Governance Practices and Audit Quality: An Empirical Study of the Listed Companies in Egypt

Authors: Mohamed Moustafa Soliman, Mohamed Abd Elsalam

Abstract:

Recent financial international scandals around the world have led to a number of investigations into the effectiveness of corporate governance practices and audit quality. Although evidence of corporate governance practices and audit quality exists from developed economies, very scanty studies have been conducted in Egypt where corporate governance is just evolving. Therefore, this study provides evidence on the effectiveness of corporate governance practices and audit quality from a developing country. The data for analysis are gathered from the top 50 most active companies in the Egyptian Stock Exchange, covering the three year period 2007-2009. Logistic regression was used in investigating the questions that were raised in the study. Findings from the study show that board independence; CEO duality and audit committees significantly have relationship with audit quality. The results also, indicate that institutional investor and managerial ownership have no significantly relationship with audit quality. Evidence also exist that size of the company; complexity and business leverage are important factors in audit quality for companies quoted on the Egypt Stock Exchange.

Keywords: Corporate governance, Boards of directors, corporate ownership, Audit Committees, Audit quality, and Egypt.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3885
2599 Relations between Human Capital Investments and Business Excellence in Croatian Companies

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:

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2642
2598 Construction Methods for Sign Patterns Allowing Nilpotence of Index k

Authors: Jun Luo

Abstract:

In this paper, the smallest such integer k is called by the index (of nilpotence) of B such that Bk = 0. In this paper, we study sign patterns allowing nilpotence of index k and obtain four methods to construct sign patterns allowing nilpotence of index at most k, which generalizes some recent results.

Keywords: Sign pattern, Nilpotence, Jordan block.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1624
2597 Estimation of Reconnaissance Drought Index (RDI) for Bhavnagar District, Gujarat, India

Authors: Ravi Shah, V. L. Manekar, R. A. Christian, N. J. Mistry

Abstract:

There are two types of drought as conceptual drought and operational drought. The three parameters as the beginning, the end and the degree of severity of the drought can be identifying in operational drought by average precipitation in the whole region. One of the methods classified to measure drought is Reconnaissance Drought Index (RDI). Evapotranspiration is calculated using Penman-Monteith method by analyzing thirty nine years prolong climatic data. The evapotranspiration is then utilized in RDI to classify normalized and standardized RDI. These RDI classifications led to what kind of drought faced in Bhavnagar region on 12 month time scale basis. The comparison between actual drought conditions and RDI method used to find out drought are also illustrated. It can be concluded that the index results of drought in a particular year are same in both methods but having different index values where as severity remain same.

Keywords: Drought, Drought index, Reconnaissance Drought Index (RDI), Precipitation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3456
2596 Defining Human Resources “Bundles” and Its’ Correlation with Companies’ Financial Performances

Authors: Ivana Tadić, Snježana Pivac

Abstract:

Although human resources are recognized as the crucial companies’ resources and their positive influence on companies’ performances has been confirmed through different researches, scientists are still debating it. In order to contribute this debate, this paper firstly discusses the most important human resource management elements and practices and its influence on companies’ success. Afterwards it defines human resource “bundles” – interrelated and internally consistent human resource practices, complementary to each other, or the most important human resource practices and elements regarding Croatian companies and its human resource management activities. Finally, the paper provides empirical results; more precisely it reveals the relation of the level of development of human resource management function (“bundles”) and companies’ financial performances (using profitability ratios, liquidity ratios, solvency ratios and a group of additional ratios related to employees’ indicators).

Keywords: Companies’ performances, human resource bundles, multivariate statistical analysis.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8734
2595 Analysis of Influenza Cases and Seasonal Index in Thailand

Authors: S. Youthao, M. Jaroensutasinee, K. Jaroensutasinee

Abstract:

This study investigated the pattern and seasonal index of influenza cases in Thailand. Our results showed that southern Thailand had the highest influenza incidence among the four regions of Thailand (i.e. north, northeast, central and southern Thailand). The influenza pattern in southern Thailand was similar to that of northeastern Thailand. Seasonal index values of influenza cases in Thailand were higher in the hot season than in the wet season. Influenza cases started to increase at the beginning of the hot season (April), reached a maximum in August, rapidly declined in the middle of the wet season and reached the lowest value in December. Seasonal index values for northern Thailand differed from other regions of Thailand.

Keywords: Influenza, disease index, seasonal index, Thailand.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1535
2594 Measurement of Innovation Performance

Authors: M. Chobotová, Ž. Rylková

Abstract:

Time full of changes which is associated with globalization, tougher competition, changes in the structures of markets and economic downturn, that all force companies to think about their competitive advantages. These changes can bring the company a competitive advantage and that can help improve competitive position in the market. Policy of the European Union is focused on the fast growing innovative companies which quickly respond to market demands and consequently increase its competitiveness. To meet those objectives companies need the right conditions and support of their state.

Keywords: Innovation, performance, measurements metrics, indices.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2992
2593 On Estimating the Headcount Index by Using the Logistic Regression Estimator

Authors: Encarnación Álvarez, Rosa M. García-Fernández, Juan F. Muñoz, Francisco J. Blanco-Encomienda

Abstract:

The problem of estimating a proportion has important applications in the field of economics, and in general, in many areas such as social sciences. A common application in economics is the estimation of the headcount index. In this paper, we define the general headcount index as a proportion. Furthermore, we introduce a new quantitative method for estimating the headcount index. In particular, we suggest to use the logistic regression estimator for the problem of estimating the headcount index. Assuming a real data set, results derived from Monte Carlo simulation studies indicate that the logistic regression estimator can be more accurate than the traditional estimator of the headcount index.

Keywords: Poverty line, poor, risk of poverty, sample, Monte Carlo simulations.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2063
2592 Rainfall Seasonality Changes over India Based on Changes in the Climate

Authors: Randhir Singh Baghel, Govind Prasad Sahu

Abstract:

An individual seasonality index is used to study the seasonality of rainfall over India. The seasonality indicator is examined for two time periods: early (1901-1970) and recent (1971-2015). In some regions of India throughout the recent time (1971-2015), trend analysis using linear regression during these two periods reveals a downward trend in the seasonality index (i.e., decreasing values of the index), which implies shorter dry spells resulting in more consistent rainfall throughout the year.

Keywords: Individual seasonality index, rainfall distribution, seasonality index, climate.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 116
2591 Accounting Information Systems of Kuwaiti Companies: Obstacles and Barriers

Authors: Haya Y Alobaid

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to identify and discuss the obstacles to the ability of the accounting information systems of Kuwaiti companies to deal with electronic commerce, and then to propose appropriate solutions to overcome the barriers. The study revealed a remarkable decrease in external auditors who have professional certification. The results also showed an agreement regarding the accounting systems and the ability to deal with e-commerce, with a different degree of importance, despite the presence of obstacles to the ability of accounting systems in dealing with different companies.

Keywords: Accounting information systems, obstacle, barriers, electronic commerce, Kuwait companies.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1372
2590 Combating and Preventing Unemployment in Sweden

Authors: Beata Wentura-Dudek

Abstract:

In Sweden the needs of the labor market are regularly monitored. Test results and forecasts translate directly into the education system in this country, which is largely a state system. Sweden is one of the first countries in Europe that has used active labor market policies. It is realized that there is an active unemployment which includes a wide range of activities that can be divided into three groups: Active forms of influencing the creation of new jobs, active forms that affect the labor supply and active forms for people with disabilities. Most of the funding is allocated there for subsidized employment and training. Research conducted in Sweden shows that active forms of counteracting unemployment focused on the long-term unemployed can significantly raise the level of employment in this group.

Keywords: Sweden, research conducted in Sweden, labour market, labour market policies, unemployment, active forms of influencing the creation of new jobs, active forms of counteracting unemployment, employment, subsidized employment education.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 924
2589 Drought Stress Indices in Some Silage Maize Cultivars

Authors: Ehsan Shahrabian, Ali Soleymani

Abstract:

Several yield-based stress indices have been developed that may be more applicable to work on drought tolerance. In this study, we investigate possibility of using stress susceptibility index (SSI), tolerance index (TOL), yield stability index (YSI), yield index (YI), stress tolerance index (STI), geometric mean productivity (GMP), harmonic mean (HARM), mean productivity (MP) to identify genotypic performance of some maize cultivars under normal and stressed condition. The results indicate that it was possible to identify superior genotypes for drought tolerance based on their stress indices and generally SSI indices which showed the lowest negative correlation with dry matter yield can be used as the best index for maize breeding programs to introduce drought tolerant hybrids. It was found that SC 647 showed the best behavior under drought stress condition based on TOL and SSI. A higher STI, GMP, and HARM values were attained for ko6. It can be suggested that ko6 should be cultivated in moderate stressful environment of Iran.

Keywords: Index, productivity, stress, susceptibility tolerance, yield.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2491
2588 Optimal Controllers with Actuator Saturation for Nonlinear Structures

Authors: M. Mohebbi, K. Shakeri

Abstract:

Since the actuator capacity is limited, in the real application of active control systems under sever earthquakes it is conceivable that the actuators saturate, hence the actuator saturation should be considered as a constraint in design of optimal controllers. In this paper optimal design of active controllers for nonlinear structures by considering actuator saturation, has been studied. The proposed method for designing optimal controllers is based on defining an optimization problem which the objective has been to minimize the maximum displacement of structure when a limited capacity for actuator has been used. To this end a single degree of freedom (SDF) structure with a bilinear hysteretic behavior has been simulated under a white noise ground acceleration of different amplitudes. Active tendon control mechanism, comprised of prestressed tendons and an actuator, and extended nonlinear Newmark method based instantaneous optimal control algorithm have been used. To achieve the best results, the weights corresponding to displacement, velocity, acceleration and control force in the performance index have been optimized by the Distributed Genetic Algorithm (DGA). Results show the effectiveness of the proposed method in considering actuator saturation. Also based on the numerical simulations it can be concluded that the actuator capacity and the average value of required control force are two important factors in designing nonlinear controllers which consider the actuator saturation.

Keywords: Active control, Actuator Saturation, Distributedgeneticalgorithms, Nonlinear.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1567
2587 Can a Development Bank Improve the Governance of Investee Companies? Evidence from BNDES in Brazil

Authors: Andre Luiz Carvalhal da Silva, Fernanda Farah de Abreu Zorman

Abstract:

There are many studies in the literature on institutional investors- efforts to improve corporate governance, generally focused on the role of pension funds and private equity firms. There are only a few studies that analyze the influence of development banks in the governance of investee companies. The objective of this research is to examine the role of the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) in the governance of listed companies. Our analysis provides evidence that companies in which BNDES is a shareholder have better governance.

Keywords: BNDES, corporate governance, development banks, institutional investors.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1941
2586 Vibration Control of MDOF Structure under Earthquake Excitation using Passive Control and Active Control

Authors: M. Reza Bagerzadeh Karimi, M. Mahdi Bagerzadeh Karimi

Abstract:

In the present paper, active control system is used in different heights of the building and the most effective part was studied where the active control system is applied. The mathematical model of the building is established in MATLAB and in order to active control the system FLC method was used. Three different locations of the building are chosen to apply active control system, namely at the lowest story, the middle height of the building, and at the highest point of the building with TMD system. The equation of motion was written for high rise building and it was solved by statespace method. Also passive control was used with Tuned Mass Damper (TMD) at the top floor of the building to show the robustness of FLC method when compared with passive control system.

Keywords: Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC), Tuned Mass Damper(TMD), Active control, passive control

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2678
2585 Continuous and Discontinuous Shock Absorber Control through Skyhook Strategy in Semi-Active Suspension System (4DOF Model)

Authors: A. Shamsi, N. Choupani

Abstract:

Active vibration isolation systems are less commonly used than passive systems due to their associated cost and power requirements. In principle, semi-active isolation systems can deliver the versatility, adaptability and higher performance of fully active systems for a fraction of the power consumption. Various semi-active control algorithms have been suggested in the past. This paper studies the 4DOF model of semi-active suspension performance controlled by on–off and continuous skyhook damping control strategy. The frequency and transient responses of model are evaluated in terms of body acceleration, roll angle and tire deflection and are compared with that of a passive damper. The results show that the semi-active system controlled by skyhook strategy always provides better isolation than a conventional passively damped system except at tire natural frequencies.

Keywords: Semi-active suspension system, Skyhook, Vibration isolation, 4DOF model.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2685
2584 Application of Scientific Metrics to Evaluate Academic Reputation in Different Research Areas

Authors: Cristiano R. Cervi, Renata Galante, José Palazzo M. de Oliveira

Abstract:

In this paper, we address the problem of identifying academic reputation of researchers using scientific metrics in different research areas. Due to the characteristics of each area, researchers can present different behaviors. In previous work, we define Rep-Index that makes use of a profile template to individually identify the reputation of researchers. The Rep-Index is comprehensive and adaptive because involves hole trajectory of the researcher built throughout his career and can be used in different areas and in different contexts. Now, we compare our metric (Rep-Index) with the h-index and the g-index through experiments with researchers in the fields of Economics, Dentistry and Computer Science. We analyze the trajectory of 830 Brazilian researchers from the National Council of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq), which receive grants research productivity. The grants are aimed at productivity researchers that stand out among their peers, enhancing their scientific normative criteria established by CNPq. Of the 830 researchers, 210 are in the area of Economics, 216 of Dentistry e 404 of Computer Science. The experiments show that our metric is strongly correlated with h-index, g-index and CNPq ranking. We also show good results for our hypothesis that our metric can be used to evaluate research in several areas. We apply our metric (Rep-Index) to compare the behavior of researchers in relation to their h-index and g-index through extensive experiments. The experiments showed that our metric is strongly correlated with h-index, g-index and CNPq ranking.

Keywords: Researcher reputation, profile model, scientific metrics.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1970
2583 Design for Manufacturability and Concurrent Engineering for Product Development

Authors: Alemu Moges Belay

Abstract:

In the 1980s, companies began to feel the effect of three major influences on their product development: newer and innovative technologies, increasing product complexity and larger organizations. And therefore companies were forced to look for new product development methods. This paper tries to focus on the two of new product development methods (DFM and CE). The aim of this paper is to see and analyze different product development methods specifically on Design for Manufacturability and Concurrent Engineering. Companies can achieve and be benefited by minimizing product life cycle, cost and meeting delivery schedule. This paper also presents simplified models that can be modified and used by different companies based on the companies- objective and requirements. Methodologies that are followed to do this research are case studies. Two companies were taken and analysed on the product development process. Historical data, interview were conducted on these companies in addition to that, Survey of literatures and previous research works on similar topics has been done during this research. This paper also tries to show the implementation cost benefit analysis and tries to calculate the implementation time. From this research, it has been found that the two companies did not achieve the delivery time to the customer. Some of most frequently coming products are analyzed and 50% to 80 % of their products are not delivered on time to the customers. The companies are following the traditional way of product development that is sequentially design and production method, which highly affect time to market. In the case study it is found that by implementing these new methods and by forming multi disciplinary team in designing and quality inspection; the company can reduce the workflow steps from 40 to 30.

Keywords: Design for manufacturability, Concurrent Engineering, Time-to-Market, Product development

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5544
2582 Fuzzy Clustering Analysis in Real Estate Companies in China

Authors: Jianfeng Li, Feng Jin, Xiaoyu Yang

Abstract:

This paper applies fuzzy clustering algorithm in classifying real estate companies in China according to some general financial indexes, such as income per share, share accumulation fund, net profit margins, weighted net assets yield and shareholders' equity. By constructing and normalizing initial partition matrix, getting fuzzy similar matrix with Minkowski metric and gaining the transitive closure, the dynamic fuzzy clustering analysis for real estate companies is shown clearly that different clustered result change gradually with the threshold reducing, and then, it-s shown there is the similar relationship with the prices of those companies in stock market. In this way, it-s great valuable in contrasting the real estate companies- financial condition in order to grasp some good chances of investment, and so on.

Keywords: Fuzzy clustering algorithm, data mining, real estate company, financial analysis.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1887
2581 Brainwave Classification for Brain Balancing Index (BBI) via 3D EEG Model Using k-NN Technique

Authors: N. Fuad, M. N. Taib, R. Jailani, M. E. Marwan

Abstract:

In this paper, the comparison between k-Nearest Neighbor (kNN) algorithms for classifying the 3D EEG model in brain balancing is presented. The EEG signal recording was conducted on 51 healthy subjects. Development of 3D EEG models involves pre-processing of raw EEG signals and construction of spectrogram images. Then, maximum PSD values were extracted as features from the model. There are three indexes for balanced brain; index 3, index 4 and index 5. There are significant different of the EEG signals due to the brain balancing index (BBI). Alpha-α (8–13 Hz) and beta-β (13–30 Hz) were used as input signals for the classification model. The k-NN classification result is 88.46% accuracy. These results proved that k-NN can be used in order to predict the brain balancing application.

Keywords: Brain balancing, kNN, power spectral density, 3D EEG model.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2588