Search results for: Motivation behavior

Authors: Riad S. Jabri

Abstract:

Pattern matching based on regular tree grammars have been widely used in many areas of computer science. In this paper, we propose a pattern matcher within the framework of code generation, based on a generic and a formalized approach. According to this approach, parsers for regular tree grammars are adapted to a general pattern matching solution, rather than adapting the pattern matching according to their parsing behavior. Hence, we first formalize the construction of the pattern matches respective to input trees drawn from a regular tree grammar in a form of the so-called match trees. Then, we adopt a recently developed generic parser and tightly couple its parsing behavior with such construction. In addition to its generality, the resulting pattern matcher is characterized by its soundness and efficient implementation. This is demonstrated by the proposed theory and by the derived algorithms for its implementation. A comparison with similar and well-known approaches, such as the ones based on tree automata and LR parsers, has shown that our pattern matcher can be applied to a broader class of grammars, and achieves better approximation of pattern matches in one pass. Furthermore, its use as a machine code selector is characterized by a minimized overhead, due to the balanced distribution of the cost computations into static ones, during parser generation time, and into dynamic ones, during parsing time.

Keywords: Bottom-up automata, Code selection, Pattern matching, Regular tree grammars, Match trees.

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Authors: Tomas Makaras, Gintaras Svecevičius

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Landfill waste is a common problem as it has an economic and environmental impact even if it is closed. Landfill waste contains a high density of various persistent compounds such as heavy metals, organic and inorganic materials. As persistent compounds are slowly-degradable or even non-degradable in the environment, they often produce sublethal or even lethal effects on aquatic organisms. The aims of the present study were to estimate sublethal effects of the Kairiai landfill (WGS: 55°55‘46.74“, 23°23‘28.4“) leachate on the locomotor activity of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss juveniles using the original system package developed in our laboratory for automated monitoring, recording and analysis of aquatic organisms’ activity, and to determine patterns of fish behavioral response to sublethal effects of leachate. Four different concentrations of leachate were chosen: 0.125; 0.25; 0.5 and 1.0 mL/L (0.0025; 0.005; 0.01 and 0.002 as part of 96-hour LC50, respectively). Locomotor activity was measured after 5, 10 and 30 minutes of exposure during 1-minute test-periods of each fish (7 fish per treatment). The threshold-effect-concentration amounted to 0.18 mL/L (0.0036 parts of 96-hour LC50). This concentration was found to be even 2.8-fold lower than the concentration generally assumed to be “safe” for fish. At higher concentrations, the landfill leachate solution elicited behavioral response of test fish to sublethal levels of pollutants. The ability of the rainbow trout to detect and avoid contaminants occurred after 5 minutes of exposure. The intensity of locomotor activity reached a peak within 10 minutes, evidently decreasing after 30 minutes. This could be explained by the physiological and biochemical adaptation of fish to altered environmental conditions. It has been established that the locomotor activity of juvenile trout depends on leachate concentration and exposure duration. Modeling of these parameters showed that the activity of juveniles increased at higher leachate concentrations, but slightly decreased with the increasing exposure duration. Experiment results confirm that the behavior of rainbow trout juveniles is a sensitive and rapid biomarker that can be used in combination with the system for fish behavior monitoring, registration and analysis to determine sublethal concentrations of pollutants in ambient water. Further research should be focused on software improvement aimed to include more parameters of aquatic organisms’ behavior and to investigate the most rapid and appropriate behavioral responses in different species. In practice, this study could be the basis for the development and creation of biological early-warning systems (BEWS).

Keywords: Fish behavior biomarker, landfill leachate, locomotor activity, rainbow trout juveniles, sublethal effects.

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Authors: Pui-Lai To, E-Ping Sung

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With the flourishing development of online shopping, an increasing number of customers see online shopping as an entertaining experience. Because the online consumer has a double identity as a shopper and an Internet user, online shopping should offer hedonic values of shopping and Internet usage. The purpose of this study is to investigate hedonic online shopping motivations from the perspectives of traditional hedonic value and flow theory. The study adopted a focus group interview method, including two online and two offline interviews. Four focus groups of shoppers consisted of online professionals, online college students, offline professionals and offline college students. The results of the study indicate that traditional hedonic values and dimensions of flow theory exist in the online shopping environment. The study indicated that online shoppers seem to appreciate being able to learn things and grow to become competitive achievers online. Comparisons of online hedonic motivations between groups are conducted. This study serves as a basis for the future growth of Internet marketing.

Keywords: Flow theory, hedonic motivation, internet shopping.

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Authors: Elisa Orofino

Abstract:

Islamism is a very debated topic in the West but almost exclusively explored in its violent forms. Nevertheless, a number of “vocal radical Islamist” groups exist in the West and legally operate because of their non-violent nature. Vocal radicals continually inspire individuals and lead them towards specific goals and priorities, sometimes even towards violence. This paper uses the long-living group Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) to explore the elements that make the organization appealing to segments of Muslim community in the West. This paper uses three agency variables - reflexive monitoring, the rationalization of action and the motivations for actions – to analyze HT’s appeal vis-à-vis two other Islamist groups, Ikhwan al-Muslimun and Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), having similar goals and the same high international profile. This paper concludes that HT’s uniqueness is given by its method, detailed vision of the caliphate, consistency over time and the emphasis placed on the caliphate as the leading force of HT’s unchanged motivation for action.

Keywords: Agency, Caliphate, Radicalization, Vocal Radicals.

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Authors: Qing Dai, Zhengkui Lin, Jiajia Zhang, Yi Qu

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Based on activity method, this paper focuses on morning commuting behavior when commuters travel with autonomous vehicles (AVs). Firstly, a net utility function of commuters is constructed by the activity utility of commuters at home, in car and at workplace, and the disutility of travel time cost and that of schedule delay cost. Then, this net utility function is applied to build an equilibrium model. Finally, under the assumption of constant marginal activity utility, the properties of equilibrium are analyzed. The results show that, in autonomous driving, the starting and ending time of morning peak and the number of commuters who arrive early and late at workplace are the same as those in manual driving. In automatic driving, however, the departure rate of arriving early at workplace is higher than that of manual driving, while the departure rate of arriving late is just the opposite. In addition, compared with manual driving, the departure time of arriving at workplace on time is earlier and the number of people queuing at the bottleneck is larger in automatic driving. However, the net utility of commuters and the total net utility of system in automatic driving are greater than those in manual driving.

Keywords: Autonomous cars, bottleneck model, activity utility, user equilibrium.

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Authors: Juliana Panova

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Severe symptoms, such as dissociation, depersonalization, self-mutilation, suicidal ideations and gestures, are the main reasons for a person to be diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and admitted to an inpatient Psychiatric Hospital. However, these symptoms are also indicators of a severe traumatic history as indicated by the extensive research on the topic. Unfortunately patients with such clinical presentation often are treated repeatedly only for their symptomatic behavior, while the main cause for their suffering, the trauma itself, is usually left unaddressed therapeutically. All of the highly structured, replicable, and manualized treatments lack the recognition of the uniqueness of the person and fail to respect his/her rights to experience and react in an idiosyncratic manner. Thus the communicative and adaptive meaning of such symptomatic behavior is missed. Only its pathological side is recognized and subjected to correction and stigmatization, and the message that the person is damaged goods that needs fixing is conveyed once again. However, this time the message would be even more convincing for the victim, because it is sent by mental health providers, who have the credibility to make such a judgment. The result is a revolving door of very expensive hospitalizations for only a temporary and patchy fix. In this way the patients, once victims of abuse and hardship are left invalidated and thus their re-victimization is perpetuated in their search for understanding and help. Keywordsborderline personality disorder (BPD), complex PTSD, integrative treatment of trauma, re-victimization of trauma victims.

Keywords: borderline personality disorder (BPD), complex PTSD, integrative treatment of trauma, re-victimization of trauma victims.

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Authors: M. R. Nematollahi

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Vibration characteristics of subcooled flow boiling on thin and long structures such as a heating rod were recently investigated by the author. The results show that the intensity of the subcooled boiling-induced vibration (SBIV) was influenced strongly by the conditions of the subcooling temperature, linear power density and flow velocity. Implosive bubble formation and collapse are the main nature of subcooled boiling, and their behaviors are the only sources to originate from SBIV. Therefore, in order to explain the phenomenon of SBIV, it is essential to obtain reliable information about bubble behavior in subcooled boiling conditions. This was investigated at different conditions of coolant subcooling temperatures of 25 to 75°C, coolant flow velocities of 0.16 to 0.53m/s, and linear power densities of 100 to 600 W/cm. High speed photography at 13,500 frames per second was performed at these conditions. The results show that even at the highest subcooling condition, the absolute majority of bubbles collapse very close to the surface after detaching from the heating surface. Based on these observations, a simple model of surface tension and momentum change is introduced to offer a rough quantitative estimate of the force exerted on the heating surface during the bubble ebullition. The formation of a typical bubble in subcooled boiling is predicted to exert an excitation force in the order of 10-4 N.

Keywords: Subcooled boiling, vibration mechanism, bubble behavior.

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Authors: Melissa C. LaDuke

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The purpose of this targeted analysis was to identify the use of online communities of practice (CoP) within e-learning environments as a method to build social interaction and student-centered educational experiences. A literature review was conducted to survey and collect scholarly thoughts concerning CoPs from a variety of sources. Data collected included best practices, ties to educational theories, and examples of online CoPs. Social interaction has been identified as a critical piece of the learning infrastructure, specifically for adult learners. CoPs are an effective way to help students connect to each other and the material of interest. The use of CoPs falls in line with many educational theories, including situated learning theory, social constructivism, connectivism, adult learning theory, and motivation. New literacies such as social media and gamification can help increase social interaction in online environments and provide methods to host CoPs. Steps to build and sustain a CoP were discussed in addition to CoP considerations and best practices.

Keywords: Community of practice, knowledge sharing, social interaction, online course design, new literacies.

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Authors: Xingwen Lu, Kaimin Shih

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This study investigated a strategy of blending lead-laden sludge and Al-rich precursors to reduce the release of metals from the stabilized products. Using PbO as the simulated lead-laden sludge to sinter with γ-Al2O3 by Pb:Al molar ratios of 1:2 and 1:12, PbAl2O4 and PbAl12O19 were formed as final products during the sintering process, respectively. By firing the PbO + γ-Al2O3 mixtures with different Pb/Al molar ratios at 600 to 1000 °C, the lead transformation was determined through X-ray diffraction (XRD) data. In Pb/Al molar ratio of 1/2 system, the formation of PbAl2O4 is initiated at 700 °C, but an effective formation was observed above 750 °C. An intermediate phase, Pb9Al8O21, was detected in the temperature range of 800-900 °C. However, different incorporation behavior for sintering PbO with Al-rich precursors at a Pb/Al molar ratio of 1/12 was observed during the formation of PbAl12O19 in this system. In the sintering process, both temperature and time effect on the formation of PbAl2O4 and PbAl12O19 phases were estimated. Finally, a prolonged leaching test modified from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-s toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) was used to evaluate the durability of PbO, Pb9Al8O21, PbAl2O4 and PbAl12O19 phases. Comparison for the leaching results of the four phases demonstrated the higher intrinsic resistance of PbAl12O19 against acid attack.

Keywords: Sludge, Lead, Stabilization, Leaching behavior

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Authors: A. Karasek

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Rapid growth of Information Technologies (IT) has had huge influence on enterprises, and it has contributed to its promotion and increasingly extensive use in enterprises. Information Technologies have to a large extent determined the processes taking place in an enterprise; what is more, IT development has brought the need to adopt a brand new approach to human resources management in an enterprise. The use of IT in human resource management (HRM) is of high importance due to the growing role of information and information technologies. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the use of information technologies in human resources management in enterprises. These practices will be presented in the following areas: recruitment and selection, development and training, employee assessment, motivation, talent management, personnel service. Results of conducted survey show diversity of solutions applied in particular areas of human resource management. In the future, further development in this area should be expected, as well as integration of individual HRM areas, growing mobile-enabled HR processes and their transfer into the cloud. Presented IT solutions applied in HRM are highly innovative, which is of great significance due to their possible implementation in other enterprises.

Keywords: E-HR, human resources management, HRM practices, HRMS, information technologies.

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Authors: Gabriel Jinga, Madalina Dumitru

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The objective of this paper is to present the process of change in management accounting in Romania, a former communist country from Eastern Europe. In order to explain this process, we used the contingency and institutional theories. We focused on the following directions: the presentation of the scientific context and motivation of this research and the case study. We presented the state of the art in the process of change in the management accounting from the international and national perspective. We also described the evolution of management accounting in Romania in the context of economic and political changes. An important moment was the fall of communism in 1989. This represents a starting point for a new economic environment and for new management accounting. Accordingly, we developed a case study which presented this evolution. The conclusion of our research was that the changes in the management accounting system of the company analysed occurred in the same time with the institutionalisation of some elements (e.g. degree of competition, training and competencies in management accounting). The management accounting system was modelled by the contingencies specific to this company (e.g. environment, industry, strategy).

Keywords: Management accounting, change, Romania, contingency and institutional theory.

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Authors: Mine Uslu Uysal

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This paper interested in the mechanical deformation behavior of shear deformable functionally graded ceramic-metal (FGM) plates. Theoretical formulations are based on power law theory when build up functional graded material. The mechanical properties of the plate are graded in the thickness direction according to a power-law Displacement and stress is obtained using finite element method (FEM). The load is supposed to be a uniform distribution over the plate surface (XY plane) and varied in the thickness direction only. An FGM’s gradation in material properties allows the designer to tailor material response to meet design criteria. An FGM made of ceramic and metal can provide the thermal protection and load carrying capability in one material thus eliminating the problem of thermo-mechanical deformation behavior. This thesis will explore analysis of FGM flat plates and shell panels, and their applications to r structural problems. FGMs are first characterized as flat plates under pressure in order to understand the effect variation of material properties has on structural response. In addition, results are compared to published results in order to show the accuracy of modeling FGMs using ABAQUS software.

Keywords: Functionally graded material, finite element method, thermal and structural loading.

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Authors: A. Guellati, F-M Lounis, N. Guemras, K. Daoud

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Micro droplet formation is considered as a growing emerging area of research due to its wide-range application in chemistry as well as biology. The mechanism of micro droplet formation using two immiscible liquids running through a T-junction has been widely studied. We believe that the flow of these two immiscible phases can be of greater important factor that could have an impact on out-flow hydrodynamic behavior, the droplets generated and the size of the droplets. In this study, the type of the capillary tubes used also represents another important factor that can have an impact on the generation of micro droplets. The tygon capillary tubing with hydrophilic inner surface doesn't allow regular out-flows due to the fact that the continuous phase doesn't adhere to the wall of the capillary inner surface. Teflon capillary tubing, presents better wettability than tygon tubing, and allows to obtain steady and regular regimes of out-flow, and the micro droplets are homogeneoussize. The size of the droplets is directly dependent on the flows of the continuous and dispersed phases. Thus, as increasing the flow of the continuous phase, to flow of the dispersed phase stationary, the size of the drops decreases. Inversely, while increasing the flow of the dispersed phase, to flow of the continuous phase stationary, the size of the droplet increases.

Keywords: Microfluidic system, micro droplets generation, T-junction.

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Authors: J. Y. Lee, J. Kim, H. J. Chang, J. M. Kim

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People’s tendency towards living in apartment houses is increasing in a densely populated country. However, some residents living in apartment houses are bothered by noise coming from the houses above. In order to reduce noise pollution, the communities are increasingly imposing a bylaw, including the limitation of floor impact sound, minimum thickness of floors, and floor soundproofing solutions. This research effort focused on the specific long-time deflection of resilient materials in the floor sound insulation systems of apartment houses. The experimental program consisted of testing nine floor sound insulation specimens subjected to sustained load for 45 days. Two main parameters were considered in the experimental investigation: three types of resilient materials and magnitudes of loads. The test results indicated that the structural behavior of the floor sound insulation systems under long-time load was quite different from that the systems under short-time load. The loading period increased the deflection of floor sound insulation systems and the increasing rate of the long-time deflection of the systems with ethylene vinyl acetate was smaller than that of the systems with low density ethylene polystyrene.

Keywords: Resilient materials, floor sound insulation systems, long-time deflection, sustained load, noise pollution.

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Authors: Petr Cernohorsky, Jan Voracek

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Well-developed strategic marketing planning is the essential prerequisite for establishment of the right and unique competitive advantage. Typical market, however, is a heterogeneous and decentralized structure with natural involvement of individual or group subjectivity and irrationality. These features cannot be fully expressed with one-shot rigorous formal models based on, e.g. mathematics, statistics or empirical formulas. We present an innovative solution, extending the domain of agent based computational economics towards the concept of hybrid modeling in service provider and consumer market such as telecommunications. The behavior of the market is described by two classes of agents - consumer and service provider agents - whose internal dynamics are fundamentally different. Customers are rather free multi-state structures, adjusting behavior and preferences quickly in accordance with time and changing environment. Producers, on the contrary, are traditionally structured companies with comparable internal processes and specific managerial policies. Their business momentum is higher and immediate reaction possibilities limited. This limitation underlines importance of proper strategic planning as the main process advising managers in time whether to continue with more or less the same business or whether to consider the need for future structural changes that would ensure retention of existing customers or acquisition of new ones.

Keywords: Agent-based computational economics, hybrid modeling, strategic marketing, system dynamics.

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Authors: Rudy Djamaluddin, Yasser Bachtiar, Rita Irmawati, Abd. Madjid Akkas, Rusdi Usman Latief

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The aesthetic qualities and the versatility of reinforced concrete have made it a popular choice for many architects and structural engineers. Therefore, the exploration of natural materials such as gravels and sands as well as lime-stone for cement production is increasing to produce a concrete material. The exploration must affect to the environment. Therefore, the using of the concrete materials should be as efficient as possible. According to its natural behavior of the concrete material, it is strong in compression and weak in tension. Therefore the contribution of the tensile stresses of the concrete to the flexural capacity of the beams is neglected. However, removing of concrete on tension zone affects to the decreasing of flexural capacity. Introduce the strut action of truss structures may an alternative to solve the decreasing of flexural capacity. A series of specimens were prepared to clarify the effect of the truss structures in the concrete beams without concrete on the tension zone. Results indicated that the truss system is necessary for the external reinforced concrete beams. The truss system of concrete beam without concrete on tension zone (BR) could develop almost same capacity to the normal beam (BN). It can be observed also that specimens BR has lower number of cracks than specimen BN. This may be caused by the fact that there was no bonding effect on the tensile reinforcement on specimen BR to distribute the cracks.

Keywords: External Reinforcement, Truss, Concrete Beams.

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Authors: J.V.R.Ravindra, M.B.Srinivas,

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Accurate modeling of high speed RLC interconnects has become a necessity to address signal integrity issues in current VLSI design. To accurately model a dispersive system of interconnects at higher frequencies; a full-wave analysis is required. However, conventional circuit simulation of interconnects with full wave models is extremely CPU expensive. We present an algorithm for reducing large VLSI circuits to much smaller ones with similar input-output behavior. A key feature of our method, called Frequency Shift Technique, is that it is capable of reducing linear time-varying systems. This enables it to capture frequency-translation and sampling behavior, important in communication subsystems such as mixers, RF components and switched-capacitor filters. Reduction is obtained by projecting the original system described by linear differential equations into a lower dimension. Experiments have been carried out using Cadence Design Simulator cwhich indicates that the proposed technique achieves more % reduction with less CPU time than the other model order reduction techniques existing in literature. We also present applications to RF circuit subsystems, obtaining size reductions and evaluation speedups of orders of magnitude with insignificant loss of accuracy.

Keywords: Model order Reduction, RLC, crosstalk

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Authors: Aber S. Aboalgasm, Rupert Ward

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This study investigated some results of the use of digital art tools by junior school children in order to discover if these tools could promote artistic ability and creativity. The study considers the ease of use and usefulness of the tools as well as how to assess artwork produced by digital means. As the use of these tools is a relatively new development in Art education, this study may help educators in their choice of which tools to use and when to use them. The study also aims to present a model for the assessment of students’ artistic development and creativity by studying their artistic activity. This model can help in determining differences in students’ creative ability and could be useful both for teachers, as a means of assessing digital artwork, and for students, by providing the motivation to use the tools to their fullest extent. Sixteen students aged nine to ten years old were observed and recorded while they used the digital drawing tools. The study found that, according to the students’ own statements, it was not the ease of use but the successful effects the tools provided which motivated the children to use them.

Keywords: Artistic ability, creativity, drawing digital tool, TAM model, psychomotor domain.

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Authors: Eduardo F. Mello, Peter H. Bauer

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The primary focus of this paper is the generation of energy-optimal speed trajectories for heterogeneous electric vehicle platoons in urban driving conditions. Optimal speed trajectories are generated for individual vehicles and for an entire platoon under the assumption that they can be executed without errors, as would be the case for self-driving vehicles. It is then shown that the optimization for the “average vehicle in the platoon” generates similar transportation energy savings to optimizing speed trajectories for each vehicle individually. The introduced approach only requires the lead vehicle to run the optimization software while the remaining vehicles are only required to have adaptive cruise control capability. The achieved energy savings are typically between 30% and 50% for stop-to-stop segments in cities. The prime motivation of urban platooning comes from the fact that urban platoons efficiently utilize the available space and the minimization of transportation energy in cities is important for many reasons, i.e., for environmental, power, and range considerations.

Keywords: Electric vehicles, energy efficiency, optimization, platooning, self-driving vehicles, urban traffic.

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Authors: Yehuda Roth

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In quantum theory, a system’s time evolution is predictable unless an observer performs measurement, as the measurement process can randomize the system. This randomness appears when the measuring device does not accurately describe the measured item, i.e., when the states characterizing the measuring device appear as a superposition of those being measured. When such a mismatch occurs, the measured data randomly collapse into a single eigenstate of the measuring device. This  scenario resembles the interpretation process in which the observer does not experience an objective reality but interprets it based on preliminary descriptions initially ingrained into his/her mind. This distinction is the motivation for the present study in which the collapse scenario is regarded as part of the interpretation process of the observer. By adopting the formalism of the quantum theory, we present a complete mathematical approach that describes the interpretation process. We demonstrate this process by applying the proposed interpretation formalism to the ambiguous image "My wife and mother-in-law" to identify whether a woman in the picture is young or old.

Keywords: Interpretation, ambiguous images, data reception, state matching, classification, determination.

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Authors: M. H. Yee, J. Md Yunos, W. Othman, R. Hassan, T. K. Tee, M. M. Mohamad

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The generation of an idea that goes through several  phases is affected by individual factors, interests, preferences and  motivation. The purpose of this research was to analyze the  difference in difficulties of generating ideas according to individual  learning styles. A total of 375 technical students from four technical  universities in Malaysia were randomly selected as samples. The  Kolb Learning Styles Inventory and a set of developed questionnaires  were used in this research. The results showed that the most dominant  learning style among technical students is Doer. A total of 319  (85.1%) technical students faced difficulties in solving individual  assignments. Most of the problem faced by technical students is the  difficulty of generating ideas for solving individual assignments.  There was no significant difference in difficulties of generating ideas  according to students’ learning styles. Therefore, students need to  learn higher order thinking skills enabling students to generate ideas  and consequently complete assignments.

 

Keywords: Difference, difficulties, generating idea, learning styles.

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Authors: Taqi Zahid Butt, Tanveer Ahmad Tabish

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Martensitic stainless steels have been extensively used for their good corrosion resistance and better mechanical properties. Heat treatment was suggested as one of the most excellent ways to this regard; hence, it affects the microstructure, mechanical and corrosion properties of the steel. In the current research work the microstructural changes and corrosion behavior in an AISI 420A stainless steel exposed to temperatures in the 980-1035oC range were investigated. The heat treatment is carried out in vacuum furnace within the said temperature range. The quenching of the samples was carried out in oil, brine and water media. The formation and stability of passive film was studied by Open Circuit Potential, Potentiodynamic polarization and Electrochemical Scratch Tests. The Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy results simulated with Equivalent Electrical Circuit suggested bilayer structure of outer porous and inner barrier oxide films. The quantitative data showed thick inner barrier oxide film retarded electrochemical reactions. Micrographs of the quenched samples showed sigma and chromium carbide phases which prove the corrosion resistance of steel alloy.

Keywords: Martensitic stainless steel corrosion, microstructure, vacuum furnace.

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Authors: Pablo Zoghbi-Manrique-de-Lara, Miguel A. Suárez-Acosta

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The goal of the present paper is to model two classic lines of research in which employees starred, organizational justice and citizenship behavior (OCB), but that have never been studied together when targeting customers. The suggestion is made that a hotel’s fair treatment (in terms of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice) toward customers will be appreciated by the employees, who will reciprocate in kind by favoring the hotel with increased customer-oriented behaviors (COBs). Data were collected from 204 employees at eight upscale hotels in the Canary Islands (Spain). Unlike in the case of perceptions of distributive justice, results of structural equation modeling demonstrate that employees substantively react to interactional and procedural justice toward guests by engaging in customer-oriented behaviors (COBs). The findings offer new reasons why employees decide to engage in COBs, and they highlight potentially beneficial effects of fair treatment toward guests bring to hospitality through promoting COBs.

Keywords: Hotel guests’ (mis) treatment, customer-oriented behaviors, employee citizenship, organizational justice, third-party observers, third-party intervention.

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Authors: A. Chaouachi, R. M. Kamel, K. Nagasaka

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This paper presents a novel methodology for Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) of a grid-connected 20 kW Photovoltaic (PV) system using neuro-fuzzy network. The proposed method predicts the reference PV voltage guarantying optimal power transfer between the PV generator and the main utility grid. The neuro-fuzzy network is composed of a fuzzy rule-based classifier and three Radial Basis Function Neural Networks (RBFNN). Inputs of the network (irradiance and temperature) are classified before they are fed into the appropriated RBFNN for either training or estimation process while the output is the reference voltage. The main advantage of the proposed methodology, comparing to a conventional single neural network-based approach, is the distinct generalization ability regarding to the nonlinear and dynamic behavior of a PV generator. In fact, the neuro-fuzzy network is a neural network based multi-model machine learning that defines a set of local models emulating the complex and non-linear behavior of a PV generator under a wide range of operating conditions. Simulation results under several rapid irradiance variations proved that the proposed MPPT method fulfilled the highest efficiency comparing to a conventional single neural network.

Keywords: MPPT, neuro-fuzzy, RBFN, grid-connected, photovoltaic.

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Authors: Álvaro Machado Dias, Eduardo Oda, Henrique Teruo Akiba, Leo Arruda, Luiz Felipe Bruder

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Cognitive Dissonance can be conceived both as a concept related to the tendency to avoid internal contradictions in certain situations, and as a higher order theory about information processing in the human mind. In the last decades, this last sense has been strongly surpassed by the former, as nearly all experiment on the matter discuss cognitive dissonance as an output of motivational contradictions. In that sense, the question remains: is cognitive dissonance a process intrinsically associated with the way that the mind processes information, or is it caused by such specific contradictions? Objective: To evaluate the effects of cognitive dissonance in the absence of rewards or any mechanisms to manipulate motivation. Method: To solve this question, we introduce a new task, the hypothetical social arrays paradigm, which was applied to 50 undergraduate students. Results: Our findings support the perspective that the human mind shows a tendency to avoid internal dissonance even when there are no rewards or punishment involved. Moreover, our findings also suggest that this principle works outside the conscious level.

Keywords: Cognitive Dissonance, Cognitive Psychology, Information Processing.

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Authors: Almudena Konrad, Tomás Galguera

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Lack of motivation and interest is a serious obstacle to students’ learning computing skills. A need exists for a knowledge base on effective pedagogy and curricula to teach computer programming. This paper presents results from research evaluating a six-year project designed to teach complex concepts in computer programming collaboratively, while supporting students to continue developing their computer thinking and related coding skills individually. Utilizing a quasi-experimental, mixed methods design, the pedagogical approaches and methods were assessed in two contrasting groups of students with different socioeconomic status, gender, and age composition. Analyses of quantitative data from Likert-scale surveys and an evaluation rubric, combined with qualitative data from reflective writing exercises and semi-structured interviews yielded convincing evidence of the project’s success at both teaching and inspiring students.

Keywords: Computational thinking, computing education, computer programming curriculum, logic, teaching methods.

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Authors: ZerarkaHizia, Akchiche Mustapha, Prunier Florent

Abstract:

Landslide of Ain El Hammam (AEH) has been an old slip since 1969; it was reactivated after an intense rainfall period in 2008 where it presents a complex shape and affects broad areas. The schist of AEH is more or less altered; the alteration is facilitated by the fracturing of the rock in its upper part, the presence of flowing water as well as physical and chemical mechanisms of desegregation in joint of altered schist. The factors following these instabilities are mostly related to the geological formation, the hydro-climatic conditions and the topography of the region. The city of AEH is located on the top of a steep slope at 50 km from the city of TiziOuzou (Algeria). AEH’s topographic monitoring of unstable slope allows analyzing the structure and the different deformation mechanism and the gradual change in the geometry, the direction of change of slip. It also allows us to delimit the area affected by the movement. This work aims to study the behavior of AEH landslide with topographic monitoring and to validate the results with numerical modeling of the slip site, when the hydraulic factors are identified as the most important factors for the reactivation of this landslide. With the help of the numerical code PLAXIS 2D and PlaxFlow, the precipitations and the steady state flow are modeled. To identify the mechanism of deformation and to predict the spread of the AEH landslide numerically, we used the equivalent deviatory strain, and these results were visualized by MATLAB software.

Keywords: Equivalent deviatory strain, landslide, numerical modeling, topographic monitoring.

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Authors: Marcus Banda

Abstract:

In this article the influence of higher frequency effects in addition to a special damper design on the electrical behavior of a synchronous generator main exciter machine is investigated. On the one hand these machines are often highly stressed by harmonics from the bridge rectifier thus facing additional eddy current losses. On the other hand the switching may cause the excitation of dangerous voltage peaks in resonant circuits formed by the diodes of the rectifier and the commutation reactance of the machine. Therefore modern rotating exciters are treated like synchronous generators usually modeled with a second order equivalent circuit. Hence the well known Standstill Frequency Response Test (SSFR) method is applied to a test machine in order to determine parameters for the simulation. With these results it is clearly shown that higher frequencies have a strong impact on the conventional equivalent circuit model. Because of increasing field displacement effects in the stranded armature winding the sub-transient reactance is even smaller than the armature leakage at high frequencies. As a matter of fact this prevents the algorithm to find an equivalent scheme. This issue is finally solved using Laplace transfer functions fully describing the transient behavior at the model ports.

Keywords: Synchronous exciter machine, Linear transfer function, SSFR, Equivalent Circuit

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Authors: Daniele Losanno, Giorgio Serino

Abstract:

This paper focuses on parametric analysis of reinforced concrete structures equipped with supplemental damping braces. Practitioners still luck sufficient data for current design of damper added structures and often reduce the real model to a pure damper braced structure even if this assumption is neither realistic nor conservative. In the present study, the damping brace is modelled as made by a linear supporting brace connected in series with the viscous/hysteretic damper. Deformation capacity of existing structures is usually not adequate to undergo the design earthquake. In spite of this, additional dampers could be introduced strongly limiting structural damage to acceptable values, or in some cases, reducing frame response to elastic behavior. This work is aimed at providing useful considerations for retrofit of existing buildings by means of supplemental damping braces. The study explicitly takes into consideration variability of (a) relative frame to supporting brace stiffness, (b) dampers’ coefficient (viscous coefficient or yielding force) and (c) non-linear frame behavior. Non-linear time history analysis has been run to account for both dampers’ behavior and non-linear plastic hinges modelled by Pivot hysteretic type. Parametric analysis based on previous studies on SDOF or MDOF linear frames provide reference values for nearly optimal damping systems design. With respect to bare frame configuration, seismic response of the damper-added frame is strongly improved, limiting deformations to acceptable values far below ultimate capacity. Results of the analysis also demonstrated the beneficial effect of stiffer supporting braces, thus highlighting inadequacy of simplified pure damper models. At the same time, the effect of variable damping coefficient and yielding force has to be treated as an optimization problem.

Keywords: Brace stiffness, dissipative braces, non-linear analysis, plastic hinges, reinforced concrete.

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Authors: J. Modu, J. F. Georgin, L. Briançon, E. Antoinet

Abstract:

Wind turbine gravity foundations are designed to resist overturning failure through gravitational forces resulting from their masses. Owing to the relatively high volume of the cementitious material present, the foundations tend to suffer thermal strains and internal cracking due to high temperatures and temperature gradients depending on factors such as geometry, mix design and level of restraint. This is a result of a fully coupled mechanism commonly known as THMC (Thermo- Hygro - Mechanical - Chemical) coupling whose kinetics peak during the early age of concrete. The focus of this paper is therefore to present and offer a discussion on the temperature and humidity evolutions occurring in mass pours such as wind turbine gravity foundations based on sensor results obtained from the monitoring of an actual wind turbine foundation. To offer prediction of the evolutions, the formulation of a 3D Thermal-Hydro-Chemical (THC) model that is mainly derived from classical fundamental physical laws is also presented and discussed. The THC model can be mathematically fully coupled in Finite Element analyses. In the current study, COMSOL Multi-physics software was used to simulate the 3D THC coupling that occurred in the monitored wind turbine foundation to predict the temperature evolution at five different points within the foundation from time of casting.

Keywords: Early age behavior, reinforced concrete, THC 3D models, wind turbines.

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