Search results for: social innovation process

Authors: XhevrieMamaqi

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Organization capacity learning is a process referring to the sum total of individual and collective learning through training programs, experience and experimentation, among others. Today, in-business ongoing training is one of the most important strategies for human capital development and it is crucial to sustain and improve workers’ knowledge and skills. Many organizations, firms and business are adopting a strategy of continuous learning, encouraging employees to learn new skills continually to be innovative and to try new processes and work in order to achieve a competitive advantage and superior business results. This paper uses the Resource Based View and Capacities (RBV) approach to construct a hypothetical relationships model between training and business results. The test of the model is applied on transversal data. A sample of 266 business of Spanish sector service has been selected. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) is used to estimate the relationship between ongoing training, represented by two latent dimension denominated Human and Social Capital resources and economic business results. The coefficients estimated have shown the efficient of some training aspectsexplaining the variation in business results.

Keywords: Business results, Human and Social Capital resources, training, RBV Theory, SEM.

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Authors: Bohsiu Wu

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Among serious crimes, child homicide is a rather rare event. However, the killing of children stirs up a special type of emotion in society that pales other criminal acts. This study examines the relevancy of three possible community-level explanations for child homicide: social deprivation, female empowerment, and social isolation. The social deprivation hypothesis posits that child homicide results from lack of resources in communities. The female empowerment hypothesis argues that a higher female status translates into a higher level of capability to prevent child homicide. Finally, the social isolation hypothesis regards child homicide as a result of lack of social connectivity. Child homicide data, aggregated by US postal ZIP codes in California from 1990 to 1999, were analyzed with a negative binomial regression. The results of the negative binomial analysis demonstrate that social deprivation is the most salient and consistent predictor among all other factors in explaining child homicide victimization at the ZIP-code level. Both social isolation and female labor force participation are weak predictors of child homicide victimization across communities. Further, results from the negative binomial regression show that it is the communities with a higher, not lower, degree of female labor force participation that are associated with a higher count of child homicide. It is possible that poor communities with a higher level of female employment have a lesser capacity to provide the necessary care and protection for the children. Policies aiming at reducing social deprivation and strengthening female empowerment possess the potential to reduce child homicide in the community.

Keywords: Child homicide, deprivation, empowerment, isolation.

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Authors: Dilip Singh Sisodia, Shrish Verma

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In this paper we are presenting some spamming techniques their behaviour and possible solutions. We have analyzed how Spammers enters into online social networking sites (OSNSs) to target them and diverse techniques used by them for this purpose. Spamming is very common issue in present era of Internet especially through Online Social Networking Sites (like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ etc.). Spam messages keep wasting Internet bandwidth and the storage space of servers. On social networking sites; spammers often disguise themselves by creating fake accounts and hijacking user’s accounts for personal gains. They behave like normal user and they continue to change their spamming strategy. Following spamming techniques are discussed in this paper like clickjacking, social engineered attacks, cross site scripting, URL shortening, and drive by download. We have used elgg framework for demonstration of some of spamming threats and respective implementation of solutions.

Keywords: Online social networking sites, spam attacks, Internet, clickjacking/likejacking, drive-by-download, URL shortening, cross site scripting, socially engineered attacks, elgg framework.

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Authors: Gurjeet Singh, M. K. Pradhan, Ajay Verma

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The plastic industry plays very important role in the economy of any country. It is generally among the leading share of the economy of the country. Since metals and their alloys are very rarely available on the earth. Therefore, to produce plastic products and components, which finds application in many industrial as well as household consumer products is beneficial. Since 50% plastic products are manufactured by injection moulding process. For production of better quality product, we have to control quality characteristics and performance of the product. The process parameters plays a significant role in production of plastic, hence the control of process parameter is essential. In this paper the effect of the parameters selection on injection moulding process has been described. It is to define suitable parameters in producing plastic product. Selecting the process parameter by trial and error is neither desirable nor acceptable, as it is often tends to increase the cost and time. Hence, optimization of processing parameter of injection moulding process is essential. The experiments were designed with Taguchi’s orthogonal array to achieve the result with least number of experiments. Plastic material polypropylene is studied. Tensile strength test of material is done on universal testing machine, which is produced by injection moulding machine. By using Taguchi technique with the help of MiniTab-14 software the best value of injection pressure, melt temperature, packing pressure and packing time is obtained. We found that process parameter packing pressure contribute more in production of good tensile plastic product.

Keywords: Injection moulding, tensile strength, Taguchi method, poly-propylene.

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Authors: Bubaker F. Shareia

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The main aim of this paper is to set the parameters within which the study is to be conducted, specifically justifying the use of qualitative research, informed by theory. This paper argues that the social world is subjective in nature and may be accessed through the interpretive approach provided by the people involved in the context of the study. The paper defines and distinguishes between qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, explores Burrell and Morgan's framework for social research, and presents the study's adopted methodology and methods, with the rationale for these choices.

Keywords: Accounting, methodologies, qualitative, quantitative research.

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Authors: Pankaj Chandna, Dinesh Kumar

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The present work analyses different parameters of end milling to minimize the surface roughness for AISI D2 steel. D2 Steel is generally used for stamping or forming dies, punches, forming rolls, knives, slitters, shear blades, tools, scrap choppers, tyre shredders etc. Surface roughness is one of the main indices that determines the quality of machined products and is influenced by various cutting parameters. In machining operations, achieving desired surface quality by optimization of machining parameters, is a challenging job. In case of mating components the surface roughness become more essential and is influenced by the cutting parameters, because, these quality structures are highly correlated and are expected to be influenced directly or indirectly by the direct effect of process parameters or their interactive effects (i.e. on process environment). In this work, the effects of selected process parameters on surface roughness and subsequent setting of parameters with the levels have been accomplished by Taguchi’s parameter design approach. The experiments have been performed as per the combination of levels of different process parameters suggested by L9 orthogonal array. Experimental investigation of the end milling of AISI D2 steel with carbide tool by varying feed, speed and depth of cut and the surface roughness has been measured using surface roughness tester. Analyses of variance have been performed for mean and signal-to-noise ratio to estimate the contribution of the different process parameters on the process.

Keywords: D2 Steel, Orthogonal Array, Optimization, Surface Roughness, Taguchi Methodology.

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Authors: Dalia Suša Vugec, Ana-Marija Stjepić, Darija Ivandić Vidović

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Digital transformation is one of the latest trends on the global market. In order to maintain the competitive advantage and sustainability, increasing number of organizations are conducting digital transformation processes. Those organizations are changing their business processes and creating new business models with the help of digital technologies. In that sense, one should also observe the role of business process management (BPM) and its maturity in driving digital transformation. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to investigate the role of BPM in digital transformation process within one organization. Since experiences from practice show that organizations from financial sector could be observed as leaders in digital transformation, an insurance company has been selected to participate in the study. That company has been selected due to the high level of its BPM maturity and the fact that it has previously been through a digital transformation process. In order to fulfill the goals of the paper, several interviews, as well as questionnaires, have been conducted within the selected company. The results are presented in a form of a case study. Results indicate that digital transformation process within the observed company has been successful, with special focus on the development of digital strategy, BPM and change management. The role of BPM in the digital transformation of the observed company is further discussed in the paper.

Keywords: Business process management, case study, Croatia, digital transformation, insurance company.

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Authors: Rakesh Prajapati, Purvik Patel, Hardik Patel

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Productivity and quality are two important aspects that have become great concerns in today’s competitive global market. Every production/manufacturing unit mainly focuses on these areas in relation to the process, as well as the product developed. The electrical discharge machining (EDM) process, even now it is an experience process, wherein the selected parameters are still often far from the maximum, and at the same time selecting optimization parameters is costly and time consuming. Material Removal Rate (MRR) during the process has been considered as a productivity estimate with the aim to maximize it, with an intention of minimizing surface roughness taken as most important output parameter. These two opposites in nature requirements have been simultaneously satisfied by selecting an optimal process environment (optimal parameter setting). Objective function is obtained by Regression Analysis and Analysis of Variance. Then objective function is optimized using Genetic Algorithm technique. The model is shown to be effective; MRR and Surface Roughness improved using optimized machining parameters.

Keywords: Material removal rate, TWR, OC, DOE, ANOVA, MINITAB.

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Authors: Bilgehan Gültekin, Tuba Gültekin

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It is quite essential to form dialogue mechanisms and dialogue channels to solve intercultural communication issues. Therefore, every country should develop a intercultural education project which aims to resolve international communication issues. For proper mediation training, the first step is to reach an agreement on the actors to run the project. The strongest mediation mechanisms in the world should be analyzed and initiated within the educational policies. A communication-based mediation model should be developed for international mediation training. Mediators can use their convincing communication skills as a part of this model. At the first, fundamental stages of the mediation training should be specified within the scope of the model. Another important topic at this point is common sence and peace leaders to act as an ombudsman in this process. Especially for solving some social issues and conflicts, common sense leaders acting as an ombudsman would lead to effective communication. In mediation training that is run by universities and non-governmental organizations, another phase is to focus on conducting the meetings. In intercultural mediation training, one of the most critical topics is to conduct the meeting traffic and performing a shuttle diplomacy. Meeting traffic is where the mediator organizes meetings with the parties with initiative powers, in order to contribute to the solution of the issue, and schedule these meetings. In this notice titled “ Intercultural mediation training and the training process of common sense leaders by the leadership of universities communication and artistic campaigns" , communication models and strategies about this topic will be constructed and an intercultural art activities and perspectives will be presented.

Keywords: Intercultural communication, mediation education, common sense leaders, artistic sensitivity

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Authors: Halil Ibrahim Demir, Alper Goksu, Onur Canpolat, Caner Erden, Melek Nur

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Traditionally process planning, scheduling and due date assignment are performed sequentially and separately. High interrelation between these functions makes integration very useful. Although there are numerous works on integrated process planning and scheduling and many works on scheduling with due date assignment, there are only a few works on the integration of these three functions. Here we tested the different integration levels of these three functions and found a fully integrated version as the best. We applied genetic search and random search and genetic search was found better compared to the random search. We penalized all earliness, tardiness and due date related costs. Since all these three terms are all undesired, it is better to penalize all of them.

Keywords: Process planning, scheduling, due-date assignment, genetic algorithm, random search.

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Authors: Stephanie Russo Fabris, Edmara Thays Neres Menezes, Ruirogeres dos Santos Cruz, Lucio Leonardo Siqueira Santos, Suzana Leitao Russo

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The statistical process control (SPC) is one of the most powerful tools developed to assist ineffective control of quality, involves collecting, organizing and interpreting data during production. This article aims to show how the use of CEP industries can control and continuously improve product quality through monitoring of production that can detect deviations of parameters representing the process by reducing the amount of off-specification products and thus the costs of production. This study aimed to conduct a technological forecasting in order to characterize the research being done related to the CEP. The survey was conducted in the databases Spacenet, WIPO and the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI). Among the largest are the United States depositors and deposits via PCT, the classification section that was presented in greater abundance to F.

Keywords: Statistical Process Control, Industries

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Authors: Dalyah Y. Al-Jamal, Maryam H. Eshtaiwi, Liyakathunisa Syed

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Connecting health services with technology has a huge demand as people health situations are becoming worse day by day. In fact, engaging new technologies such as Internet of Things (IOT) into the medical services can enhance the patient care services. Specifically, patients suffering from chronic diseases such as cardiac patients need a special care and monitoring. In reality, some efforts were previously taken to automate and improve the patient monitoring systems. However, the previous efforts have some limitations and lack the real-time feature needed for chronic kind of diseases. In this paper, an improved process model for patient monitoring system specialized for cardiac patients is presented. A survey was distributed and interviews were conducted to gather the needed requirements to improve the cardiac patient monitoring system. Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) language was used to model the proposed process. In fact, the proposed system uses the IOT Technology to assist doctors to remotely monitor and follow-up with their heart patients in real-time. In order to validate the effectiveness of the proposed solution, simulation analysis was performed using Bizagi Modeler tool. Analysis results show performance improvements in the heart monitoring process. For the future, authors suggest enhancing the proposed system to cover all the chronic diseases.

Keywords: Business process model and notation, cardiac patient, cardiac monitoring, heart monitoring, healthcare, internet of things, remote patient monitoring system, process model, telemedicine, wearable sensors.

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Authors: T. Jayanthi, K. Velusamy, H. Seetha, S. A. V. Satya Murty

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Verification and Validation of Simulated Process Model is the most important phase of the simulator life cycle. Evaluation of simulated process models based on Verification and Validation techniques checks the closeness of each component model (in a simulated network) with the real system/process with respect to dynamic behaviour under steady state and transient conditions. The process of Verification and Validation helps in qualifying the process simulator for the intended purpose whether it is for providing comprehensive training or design verification. In general, model verification is carried out by comparison of simulated component characteristics with the original requirement to ensure that each step in the model development process completely incorporates all the design requirements. Validation testing is performed by comparing the simulated process parameters to the actual plant process parameters either in standalone mode or integrated mode. A Full Scope Replica Operator Training Simulator for PFBR - Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor has been developed at IGCAR, Kalpakkam, INDIA named KALBR-SIM (Kalpakkam Breeder Reactor Simulator) where in the main participants are engineers/experts belonging to Modeling Team, Process Design and Instrumentation & Control design team. This paper discusses about the Verification and Validation process in general, the evaluation procedure adopted for PFBR operator training Simulator, the methodology followed for verifying the models, the reference documents and standards used etc. It details out the importance of internal validation by design experts, subsequent validation by external agency consisting of experts from various fields, model improvement by tuning based on expert’s comments, final qualification of the simulator for the intended purpose and the difficulties faced while co-coordinating various activities.

Keywords: Verification and Validation (V&V), Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR), Kalpakkam Breeder Reactor Simulator (KALBR-SIM), Steady State, Transient State.

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Authors: Mete Kazaz, Birol Gülnar

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Television news has gained a new dimension in terms of ideological approaches as a result of such factors as globalization, cross monopolization, presence of international companies etc. and certain strategies have been developed at the production, presentation and distribution stages of news. In this study, television news about a process called “settlement process” was investigated. In this framework, news about the settlement process on TV channels of TRT 1, ATV, FOX TV, NTV, HABERTÜRK, TRT HABER and STV was investigated using the content analysis method in terms of the strategies the ideology construction, attitude towards the party in power, attitude towards parties in opposition and attitude towards BDP (Peace and Democracy Part) and Imrali (the island where Abdullah Ocalan, head of PKK, is kept). First, the aforementioned TV channels were selected randomly from 3 groups in order to be able to reveal the representational capacity of commercial, news and public channels. The study covers 557 news items broadcast in the main news bulletins between the dates of 15 March 2013 and 15 March 2013. While there was a positive attitude towards the government in a sizable portion of the news about the settlement process (63.6%), the attitude of 25.3% of the news was impartial towards the government and 11.3% had a negative attitude. On the other hand, there was a negative attitude towards the Opposition in a considerable portion of the news about the settlement process (56.1%). The attitude of 35.9% of the news towards the Opposition was impartial whereas 8.0% had a positive attitude. While 34.9% of the news about the settlement process used the legitimization strategy from among the ideology construction strategies, 22.8% used the unification strategy, 15.7% the reification strategy, 15.6% fractional and 11% concealment/mystification strategy.

Keywords: Attitude, Ideological Framing, Television News.

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Authors: Manar AlJazzazi, Mohammed Rawashdeh, Tariq Alshawaheen, Aktham Malkawi

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This paper is a part of research, in which the way the biomedical engineers follow in their work is analyzed. The goal of this paper is to present a method for specification of user requirements in the medical devices maintenance process. Data Gathering Methods, Research Model Phases and Descriptive Analysis is presented. These technology and verification rules can be implemented in Medical devices maintenance management process to the maintenance process.

Keywords: Quality Function Deployment (QFD), User - requirements approach.

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Authors: Pathinathan Theresanathan, Ajay Minj

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Ignatian Discernment Process (IDP) is an intense decision-making tool to decide on life-issues. Decisions are influenced by various factors outside of the decision maker and inclination within. This paper develops IDP in the context of Fuzzy Multi-criteria Decision Making (FMCDM) process. Extended VIKOR method is a decision-making method which encompasses even conflict situations and accommodates weightage to various issues. Various aspects of IDP, namely three ways of decision making and tactics of inner desires, are observed, analyzed and articulated within the frame work of fuzzy rules. The decision-making situations are broadly categorized into two types. The issues outside of the decision maker influence the person. The inner feeling also plays vital role in coming to a conclusion. IDP integrates both the categories using Extended VIKOR method. Case studies are carried out and analyzed with FMCDM process. Finally, IDP is verified with an illustrative case study and results are interpreted. A confused person who could not come to a conclusion is able to take decision on a concrete way of life through IDP. The proposed IDP model recommends an integrated and committed approach to value-based decision making.

Keywords: Analytical hierarchy process, fuzzy multi-criteria decision making, Ignatian discernment process, Ignatian discernment, multi-criteria decision making, VIKOR.

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Authors: J. K. Visser, H. T. Malan

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A need exists to identify the sources of risks associated with the process automation systems within petrochemical companies or similar energy related industries. These companies use many different process automation technologies in its value chain. A crucial part of the process automation system is the information technology component featuring in the supervisory control layer. The ever-changing technology within the process automation layers and the rate at which it advances pose a risk to safe and predictable automation system performance. The age of the automation equipment also provides challenges to the operations and maintenance managers of the plant due to obsolescence and unavailability of spare parts. The main objective of this research was to determine the risk sources associated with the equipment that is part of the process automation systems. A secondary objective was to establish whether technology managers and technicians were aware of the risks and share the same viewpoint on the importance of the risks associated with automation systems. A conceptual model for risk sources of automation systems was formulated from models and frameworks in literature. This model comprised six categories of risk which forms the basis for identifying specific risks. This model was used to develop a questionnaire that was sent to 172 instrument technicians and technology managers in the company to obtain primary data. 75 completed and useful responses were received. These responses were analyzed statistically to determine the highest risk sources and to determine whether there was difference in opinion between technology managers and technicians. The most important risks that were revealed in this study are: 1) the lack of skilled technicians, 2) integration capability of third-party system software, 3) reliability of the process automation hardware, 4) excessive costs pertaining to performing maintenance and migrations on process automation systems, and 5) requirements of having third-party communication interfacing compatibility as well as real-time communication networks.

Keywords: Distributed control system, identification of risks, information technology, process automation system.

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Authors: Mohamed Bendahmane, Brahim Elfalaki, Mohammed Benattou

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One of the major sources of learners' professional difficulties is their heterogeneity. Whether on cognitive, social, cultural or emotional level, learners being part of the same group have many differences. These differences do not allow to apply the same learning process at all learners. Thus, an optimal learning path for one, is not necessarily the same for the other. We present in this paper a model-oriented service to offer to each learner a personalized learning path to acquire the targeted skills.

Keywords: Service-oriented architecture, learning path, web service, personalization, trace analysis.

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Authors: Ali Reza Rahmani, Mohamad Taghi Samadi, Maryam Khodadadi

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A laboratory set-up was designed to survey the effectiveness of UV/O3 advanced oxidation process (AOP) for the removal of Carbaryl from polluted water in batch reactor. The study was carried out by UV/O3 process for water samples containing 1 to 20 mg/L of Carbaryl in distilled water. Also the range of drinking water resources adjusted in synthetic water and effects of contact time, pH and Carbaryl concentration were studied. The residual pesticide concentration was determined by applying high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results indicated that increasing of retention time and pH, enhances pesticide removal efficiency. The removal efficiency has been affected by pesticide initial concentration. Samples with low pesticide concentration showed a remarkable removal efficiency compared to the samples with high pesticide concentration. AOP method showed the removal efficiencies of 80% to 100%. Although process showed high performance for removal of pesticide from water samples, this process has different disadvantages including complication, intolerability, difficulty of maintenance and equipmental and structural requirements.

Keywords: AOP, Carbaryl, Pesticides, Water treatment.

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Authors: Z. Goosen, E. J. Cilliers

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Social sustainability, as an independent perspective of sustainable development, has gained some acknowledgement, becoming an important aspect in sustainable urban planning internationally. However, limited research aiming at promoting social sustainability within urban areas exists within the South African context. This is mainly due to the different perspectives of sustainable development (e.g., Environmental, Economic, and Social) not being equally prioritized by policy makers and supported by implementation strategies, guidelines, and planning frameworks. The enhancement of social sustainability within urban areas relies on urban dweller satisfaction and the quality of urban life. Inclusive cities with high-quality public spaces are proposed within this research through implementing the third place theory. Third places are introduced as any place other than our homes (first place) and work (second place) and have become an integrated part of sustainable urban planning. As Third Places consist of every place 'in between', the approach has taken on a large role of the everyday life of city residents, and the importance of planning for such places can only be measured through identifying and highlighting the social sustainability benefits thereof. The aim of this research paper is to introduce third place planning within the urban area to ultimately enhance social sustainability. Selected background planning approaches influencing the planning of third places will briefly be touched on, as the focus will be placed on the social sustainability benefits provided through third place planning within an urban setting. The study will commence by defining and introducing the concept of third places within urban areas as well as a discussion on social sustainability, acting as one of the three perspectives of sustainable development. This will gain the researcher an improved understanding on social sustainability in order for the study to flow into an integrated discussion of the benefits Third places provide in terms of social sustainability and the impact it has on improved quality of life within urban areas. Finally, a visual case study comparison of local and international examples of third places identified will be illustrated. These international case studies will contribute towards the conclusion of this study where a local gap analysis will be formulated, based on local third place evidence and international best practices in order to formulate a strategic planning framework on improving social sustainability through third place planning within the local South African context.

Keywords: Planning benefits, social sustainability, third places, urban area.

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Authors: Kalala Jalama

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A process flowsheet was developed in ChemCad 6.4 to study the effect of feed moisture contents on the pre-esterification of waste oils. Waste oils were modelled as a mixture of triolein (90%), oleic acid (5%) and water (5%). The process mainly consisted of feed drying, pre-esterification reaction and methanol recovery. The results showed that the process energy requirements would be minimized when higher degrees of feed drying and higher preesterification reaction temperatures are used.

Keywords: Waste oils, moisture content, pre-esterification.

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Authors: H. Meradi, S. Bouhouche, M. Lahreche

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In this work, we consider an application of neural networks in LD converter. Application of this approach assumes a reliable prediction of steel temperature and reduces a reblow ratio in steel work. It has been applied a conventional model to charge calculation, the obtained results by this technique are not always good, this is due to the process complexity. Difficulties are mainly generated by the noisy measurement and the process non linearities. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) have become a powerful tool for these complex applications. It is used a backpropagation algorithm to learn the neural nets. (ANNs) is used to predict the steel bath temperature in oxygen converter process for the end condition. This model has 11 inputs process variables and one output. The model was tested in steel work, the obtained results by neural approach are better than the conventional model.

Keywords: LD converter, bath temperature, neural networks.

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Authors: Vasile Marinescu, Ionut Clementin Constantin, Alexandru Epureanu, Virgil Teodor

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The Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) plays a vital role in automation and process control. Grafcet is used for representing the control logic, and traditional programming languages are used for describing the pure algorithms. Grafcet is used for dividing the process to be automated in elementary sequences that can be easily implemented. Each sequence represent a step that has associated actions programmed using textual or graphical languages after case. The programming task is simplified by using a set of subroutines that are used in several steps. The paper presents an example of implementation for a punching machine for sheets and plates. The use the graphical languages the programming of a complex sequential process is a necessary solution. The state of Grafcet can be used for debugging and malfunction determination. The use of the method combined with a set of knowledge acquisition for process application reduces the downtime of the machine and improve the productivity.

Keywords: Grafcet, Petrinet, PLC, punching.

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Authors: R.K.Tuli

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In the present communication, we have studied different variations in the entropy measures in the different states of queueing processes. In case of steady state queuing process, it has been shown that as the arrival rate increases, the uncertainty increases whereas in the case of non-steady birth-death process, it is shown that the uncertainty varies differently. In this pattern, it first increases and attains its maximum value and then with the passage of time, it decreases and attains its minimum value.

Keywords: Entropy, Birth-death process, M/G/1 system, G/M/1system, Steady state, Non-steady state

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Authors: Najib Ahmad Marzuki, Che Su Mustaffa, Johana Johari, Nur Hafizza Rahaman

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The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects and relationship of stress and social support towards the quality of life among flood victims in Malaysia. A total of 764 respondents took part in the survey via convenience sampling. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress scale (DASS) was utilized to measure stress while The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support was used to measure social support. To measure quality of life, the combination of WHO Quality of Life – BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) and The Impact of Event Scale – Revised (IES-R) were utilized. The findings of this study indicate that there were significant correlations between variables in the study. The findings showed a significant negative relation between stress and quality of life; and significant positive correlations between support from family as well as support from friends with quality of life. Stress and support from family were found to be significant predictors that influence the quality of life among flood victims.

Keywords: Stress, social support, quality of life, flood victims.

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Authors: Mirjana Radman-Funarić, Katarina Potnik Galić

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The paper presents an analysis of linkages and structures of co-operation and their intensity like the potential for the establishment of clusters in the Central and Eastern (Pannonian) Croatian. Starting from the theoretical elaboration of the need for entrepreneurs to organize through the cluster model and the terms of their self-actualization, related to the importance of traditional values in terms of benefits, social capital and assess where the company now is, in order to prove the need to create their own identity in terms of clustering. The institutional dimensions of social capital where the public sector has the best role in creating the social structure of clusters, and social dimensions of social capital in terms of trust, cooperation and networking will be analyzed to what extent the trust and coherency are present between companies in the Brod posavina and Pozega slavonia County, expressed through the readiness of inclusion in clusters in the NUTS II region - Central and Eastern (Pannonian) Croatia, as a homogeneous economic entity, with emphasis on limiting factors that stand in the way of greater competitiveness.

Keywords: Analysis of linkages, structures of co-operation, Cluster, Region

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Authors: Marija Lončar, Zorana Šuljug Vučica, Magdalena Nigoević

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Diverse social, cultural and economic trends and changes in contemporary societies influence the ways masculinity is represented in a variety of media. Masculinity is constructed within media images as a dynamic process that changes slowly over time and is shaped by various social factors. In many societies, dominant masculinity is still associated with authority, heterosexuality, marriage, professional and financial success, ethnic dominance and physical strength. But contemporary media depict men in ways that suggest a change in the approach to media images. The number of media images of men, which promote men’s identity through their body, have increased. With the male body more scrutinized and commodified, it is necessary to highlight how the body is represented and which visual elements are crucial since the body has an important role in the construction of masculinities. The study includes content analysis of male body images in the advertisements of different men’s and women’s lifestyle magazines available in Croatia. The main aim was to explore how masculinities are currently being portrayed through body regarding age, physical appearance, fashion, touch and gaze. The findings are also discussed in relation to female images since women are central in many of the processes constructing masculinities and according to the recent conceptualization of masculinity. Although the construction of male images varies through body features, almost all of them convey the message that men’s identity could be managed through manipulation and by enhancing the appearance. Furthermore, they suggest that men should engage in “bodywork” through advertised products, activities and/or practices, in order to achieve their preferred social image.

Keywords: Body images, content analysis, lifestyle magazines, masculinity.

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Authors: Jerome V. Cleofas

Abstract:

Cyberspace has become a more viable arena for budding artists to share musical acts through digital forms. The increasing relevance of online communities has attracted scholars from various fields demonstrating its influence on social capital. This paper extends this understanding of social capital among Filipino music artists belonging to the SoundCloud Philippines Facebook Group. The study makes use of various qualitative data obtained from key-informant interviews and participant observation of online and physical encounters, analyzed using the case study approach. Soundcloud Philippines has over seven-hundred members and is composed of Filipino singers, instrumentalists, composers, arrangers, producers, multimedia artists and event managers. Group interactions are a mix of online encounters based on Facebook and SoundCloud and physical encounters through meet-ups and events. Benefits reaped from the community are informational, technical, instrumental, promotional, motivational and social support. Under the guidance of online group administrators, collaborative activities such as music productions, concerts and events transpire. Most conflicts and problems arising are resolved peacefully. Social capital in SoundCloud Philippines is mobilized through recognition, respect and reciprocity.

Keywords: Facebook, music artists, online communities, social capital.

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Authors: Laleh Taheri, Noraini C. Pa., Rusli Abdullah, Salfarina Abdullah

Abstract:

Knowledge plays an important role to the success of any organization. Software development organizations are highly knowledge-intensive organizations especially in their requirement elicitation process (REP). There are several problems regarding communicating and using the knowledge in REP such as misunderstanding, being out of scope, conflicting information and changes of requirements. All of these problems occurred in transmitting the requirements knowledge during REP. Several researches have been done in REP in order to solve the problem towards requirements. Knowledge Audit (KA) approaches were proposed in order to solve managing knowledge in human resources, financial and manufacturing. There is lack of study applying the KA in requirements elicitation process. Therefore, this paper proposes a KA model for REP in supporting to acquire good requirements.

Keywords: Knowledge Audit, Requirement Elicitation Process, KA Model, Knowledge in Requirement Elicitation.

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Authors: Yolanda Bolea, Antoni Grau, Alberto Sanfeliu

Abstract:

When industrial robotics subject is taught in a degree in robotics, social and humanoid robotics concepts are rarely mentioned because this field of robotics is not used in industry. In this paper, an educational project related with industrial robotics is presented which includes social and humanoid robotics. The main motivations to realize this research are: i) humanoid robotics will be appearing soon in industry, the experience, based on research projects, indicates their deployment sooner than expected; ii) its educational interest, technology is shared with industrial robotics; iii) it is very attractive, students are interested in this part of the subject and thus they are interested in the whole subject. As a pedagogical methodology, the use of the problem-based learning is considered. Those concepts are introduced in a seminar during the last part of the subject and developed as a set of practices in the laboratory.

Keywords: Higher education in robotics, humanoid robotics, problem-based learning, social robotics.

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