Search results for: Process Quality.

Authors: Manop Vorasri, Komson Jirapattarasilp, Sittichai Kaewkuekool

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The objective of this research was to study factors, which were affected on surface roughness in high speed milling of hardened tool steel. Material used in the experiment was tool steel JIS SKD 61 that hardened on 60 ±2 HRC. Full factorial experimental design was conducted on 3 factors and 3 levels (3 3 designs) with 2 replications. Factors were consisted of cutting speed, feed rate, and depth of cut. The results showed that influenced factor affected to surface roughness was cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut which showed statistical significant. Higher cutting speed would cause on better surface quality. On the other hand, higher feed rate would cause on poorer surface quality. Interaction of factor was found that cutting speed and depth of cut were significantly to surface quality. The interaction of high cutting speed associated with low depth of cut affected to better surface quality than low cutting speed and high depth of cut.

Keywords: High-speed milling, Tool steel, SKD 61 Steel, Surface roughness, Cutting speed, Feed rate, Depth of cut

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Authors: Viktor Achter, Sebastian Breuers, Marc Seifert, Ulrich Lang, Joachim Götze, Bernd Reuther, Paul Müller

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Within the last years, several technologies have been developed to help building e-learning portals. Most of them follow approaches that deliver a vast amount of functionalities, suitable for class-like learning. The SuGI project, as part of the D-Grid (funded by the BMBF), targets on delivering a highly scalable and sustainable learning solution to provide materials (e.g. learning modules, training systems, webcasts, tutorials, etc.) containing knowledge about Grid computing to the D-Grid community. In this article, the process of the development of an e-learning portal focused on the requirements of this special user group is described. Furthermore, it deals with the conceptual and technical design of an e-learning portal, addressing the special needs of heterogeneous target groups. The main focus lies on the quality management of the software development process, Web templates for uploading new contents, the rich search and filter functionalities which will be described from a conceptual as well as a technical point of view. Specifically, it points out best practices as well as concepts to provide a sustainable solution to a relatively unknown and highly heterogeneous community.

Keywords: D-Grid, e-learning, e-science, Grid computing, SuGI.

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Authors: Tasneem Halawani, Yamen Khateeb

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With customers’ ever-increasing expectations for fast services provisioning for all their business needs, information technology (IT) organizations, as business partners, have to cope with this demanding environment and deliver their services in the most effective and efficient way. The purpose of this paper is to identify optimization and automation opportunities for the top requested IT services in a heterogenic digital environment and widely spread customer base. In collaboration with systems, processes, and subject matter experts (SMEs), the processes in scope were approached by analyzing four-year related historical data, identifying and surveying stakeholders, modeling the as-is processes, and studying systems integration/automation capabilities. This effort resulted in identifying several pain areas, including standardization, unnecessary customer and IT involvement, manual steps, systems integration, and performance measurement. These pain areas were addressed by standardizing the top five requested IT services, eliminating/automating 43 steps, and utilizing a single platform for end-to-end process execution. In conclusion, the optimization of IT service request processes in a heterogenic digital environment and widely spread customer base is challenging, yet achievable without compromising the service quality and customers’ added value. Further studies can focus on measuring the value of the eliminated/automated process steps to quantify the enhancement impact. Moreover, a similar approach can be utilized to optimize other IT service requests, with a focus on business criticality.

Keywords: Automation, customer value, heterogenic, integration, IT services, optimization, processes.

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Authors: Sheng Teng Huang, Shigeru Yoshida

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Strategic alliances generally mean the cooperation or collaboration between firms which pursue for a synergy that each member hopes the benefits from the alliances would be much more than those from individual efforts. Past researches provide us sufficient theories and considerations for alliance forming in liner shipping market. This research reviews important academic journals for the past decade regarding to the most important reasons to form the alliances. We would explain the motive of alliances and details of shipping cooperation in literature review. The paper also empirically investigates the key service quality requirements improved through alliances by using quality function deployment (QFD). Moreover, the research investigates famous shipping reports, shipping consultant websites and most recent shipping publications to find out the executive-s viewpoint of several leading carriers among top 20 to assess current shipping strategic alliance on Asia/Europe route. These comments provide meaningful managerial reasons to consider alliance formations and search if there is any gap between the theories and industrial practice. Analysis of the empirical investigation and top management-s perspective on current market situation will contribute us some meaningful managerial suggestions to evaluate these theories applied to current strategic alliances.

Keywords: Liner shipping, Strategic alliances, quality function deployment, service quality.

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Authors: M. Hassani, Y. Hassani, N. Ajudanioskooei, N. N. Benvid

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Laser Forming process as a non-contact thermal forming process is widely used to forming and bending of metallic and non-metallic sheets. In this process, according to laser irradiation along a specific path, sheet is bent. One of the most important output parameters in laser forming is bending angle that depends on process parameters such as physical and mechanical properties of materials, laser power, laser travel speed and the number of scan passes. In this paper, Artificial Neural Network and Fuzzy Logic System were used to predict of bending angle in laser forming process. Inputs to these models were laser travel speed and laser power. The comparison between artificial neural network and fuzzy logic models with experimental results has been shown both of these models have high ability to prediction of bending angles with minimum errors.

Keywords: Artificial neural network, bending angle, fuzzy logic, laser forming.

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Authors: Angelo Corallo, Maria Elena Latino, Marta Menegoli

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Agri-food value chain involves various stakeholders with different roles. All of them abide by national and international rules and leverage marketing strategies to advance their products. Food products and related processing phases carry with it a big mole of data that are often not used to inform final customer. Some data, if fittingly identified and used, can enhance the single company, and/or the all supply chain creates a math between marketing techniques and voluntary traceability strategies. Moreover, as of late, the world has seen buying-models’ modification: customer is careful on wellbeing and food quality. Food citizenship and food democracy was born, leveraging on transparency, sustainability and food information needs. Internet of Things (IoT) and Analytics, some of the innovative technologies of Industry 4.0, have a significant impact on market and will act as a main thrust towards a genuine ‘4.0 change’ for agriculture. But, realizing a traceability system is not simple because of the complexity of agri-food supply chain, a lot of actors involved, different business models, environmental variations impacting products and/or processes, and extraordinary climate changes. In order to give support to the company involved in a traceability path, starting from business model analysis and related business process a Framework to Manage Product Data in Agri-Food Supply Chain for Voluntary Traceability was conceived. Studying each process task and leveraging on modeling techniques lead to individuate information held by different actors during agri-food supply chain. IoT technologies for data collection and Analytics techniques for data processing supply information useful to increase the efficiency intra-company and competitiveness in the market. The whole information recovered can be shown through IT solutions and mobile application to made accessible to the company, the entire supply chain and the consumer with the view to guaranteeing transparency and quality.

Keywords: Agriculture 4.0, agri-food supply chain, Industry 4.0, voluntary traceability.

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Authors: M. Ketcham, S. Vongpradhip

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In this paper, an innovative watermarking scheme for audio signal based on genetic algorithms (GA) in the discrete wavelet transforms is proposed. It is robust against watermarking attacks, which are commonly employed in literature. In addition, the watermarked image quality is also considered. We employ GA for the optimal localization and intensity of watermark. The watermark detection process can be performed without using the original audio signal. The experimental results demonstrate that watermark is inaudible and robust to many digital signal processing, such as cropping, low pass filter, additive noise.

Keywords: Intelligent Audio Watermarking, GeneticAlgorithm, DWT Domain.

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Authors: R.Vinodha S. Abraham Lincoln, J. Prakash

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Multi-loop (De-centralized) Proportional-Integral- Derivative (PID) controllers have been used extensively in process industries due to their simple structure for control of multivariable processes. The objective of this work is to design multiple-model adaptive multi-loop PID strategy (Multiple Model Adaptive-PID) and neural network based multi-loop PID strategy (Neural Net Adaptive-PID) for the control of multivariable system. The first method combines the output of multiple linear PID controllers, each describing process dynamics at a specific level of operation. The global output is an interpolation of the individual multi-loop PID controller outputs weighted based on the current value of the measured process variable. In the second method, neural network is used to calculate the PID controller parameters based on the scheduling variable that corresponds to major shift in the process dynamics. The proposed control schemes are simple in structure with less computational complexity. The effectiveness of the proposed control schemes have been demonstrated on the CSTR process, which exhibits dynamic non-linearity.

Keywords: Multiple-model Adaptive PID controller, Multivariableprocess, CSTR process.

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Authors: Chihhao Fan, Ming-Chu Liao

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The purpose of this study is to investigate the chemical degradation of the organophosphorus pesticide of parathion and carbamate insecticide of methomyl in the aqueous phase through Fenton process. With the employment of batch Fenton process, the degradation of the two selected pesticides at different pH, initial concentration, humic acid concentration, and Fenton reagent dosages was explored. The Fenton process was found effective to degrade parathion and methomyl. The optimal dosage of Fenton reagents (i.e., molar concentration ratio of H2O2 to Fe2+) at pH 7 for parathion degradation was equal to 3, which resulted in 50% removal of parathion. Similarly, the optimal dosage for methomyl degradation was 1, resulting in 80% removal of methomyl. This study also found that the presence of humic substances has enhanced pesticide degradation by Fenton process significantly. The mass spectroscopy results showed that the hydroxyl free radical may attack the single bonds with least energy of investigated pesticides to form smaller molecules which is more easily to degrade either through physio-chemical or bilolgical processes.

Keywords: Fenton Process, humic acid, methomyl, parathion, pesticides

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Authors: Salam M. H. Kareem

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Instructional or teaching procedures and their proper sequence are essential for high-quality learning outcomes. These actions are the path that the teacher takes during the learning process after setting the learning objectives. Teachers and specialists in the education field should include teaching procedures with putting in place an effective mechanism for the procedure’s implementation to achieve a logical sequence with the desired output of overall education process. Determining the sequence of these actions may be a strategic process outlined by a strategic educational plan or drawn by teachers with a high level of experience, enabling them to determine those logical procedures. While specific actions may be necessary for a specific form, many Physical Education (PE) teachers can work out on various sports disciplines. This study was conducted to investigate the impact of using the teaching sequence of the teaching pyramid in raising the level of enjoyment in swimming classes. Four months later of teaching swimming skills to the control and experimental groups of the study, we figured that using the tools shown in the teaching pyramid with the experimental group led to statistically significant differences in the positive tendencies of students to participate in the swimming classes by using the traditional procedures of teaching and using of successive procedures in the teaching pyramid, and in favor of the teaching pyramid, The students are influenced by enhancing their tendency to participate in swimming classes when the teaching procedures followed are sensitive to individual differences and are based on the element of pleasure in learning, and less positive levels of the tendency of students when using traditional teaching procedures, by getting the level of skills' requirements higher and more difficult to perform. The level of positive tendencies of students when using successive procedures in the teaching pyramid was increased, by getting the level of skills' requirements higher and more difficult to perform, because of the high level of motivation and the desire to challenge the self-provided by the teaching pyramid.

Keywords: Physical education, swimming classes, teaching process, teaching pyramid.

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Authors: M. S. Reza, M. Hamdi, A.S. Hadi

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The operating control parameters of injection flushing type of electrical discharge machining process on stainless steel 304 workpiece with copper tools are being optimized according to its individual machining characteristic i.e. material removal rate (MRR). Lower MRR during EDM machining process may decrease its- machining productivity. Hence, the quality characteristic for MRR is set to higher-the-better to achieve the optimum machining productivity. Taguchi method has been used for the construction, layout and analysis of the experiment for each of the machining characteristic for the MRR. The use of Taguchi method in the experiment saves a lot of time and cost of preparing and machining the experiment samples. Therefore, an L18 Orthogonal array which was the fundamental component in the statistical design of experiments has been used to plan the experiments and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is used to determine the optimum machining parameters for this machining characteristic. The control parameters selected for this optimization experiments are polarity, pulse on duration, discharge current, discharge voltage, machining depth, machining diameter and dielectric liquid pressure. The result had shown that the higher the discharge voltage, the higher will be the MRR.

Keywords: ANOVA, EDM, Injection Flushing, L18 OrthogonalArray, MRR, Stainless Steel 304

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Authors: Méryl Brothier, Dominique Moulinier, Christophe Bertaux

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The gel-supported precipitation (GSP) process can be used to make spherical particles (spherules) of nuclear fuel, particularly for very high temperature reactors (VHTR) and even for implementing the process called SPHEREPAC. In these different cases, the main characteristics are the sphericity of the particles to be manufactured and the control over their grain size. Nonetheless, depending on the specifications defined for these spherical particles, the GSP process has intrinsic limits, particularly when fabricating very small particles. This paper describes the use of secondary fragmentation (water, water/PVA and uranyl nitrate) on solid surfaces under varying temperature and vibration conditions to assess the relevance of using this new technique to manufacture very small spherical particles by means of a modified GSP process. The fragmentation mechanisms are monitored and analysed, before the trends for its subsequent optimised application are described.

Keywords: Microsphere elaboration, nuclear fuel, droplet impact , gel-supported precipitation process.

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Authors: Julia Kucerova, Jaroslav Polec, Darina Tarcsiova

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Visual information is very important in human perception of surrounding world. Video is one of the most common ways to capture visual information. The video capability has many benefits and can be used in various applications. For the most part, the video information is used to bring entertainment and help to relax, moreover, it can improve the quality of life of deaf people. Visual information is crucial for hearing impaired people, it allows them to communicate personally, using the sign language; some parts of the person being spoken to, are more important than others (e.g. hands, face). Therefore, the information about visually relevant parts of the image, allows us to design objective metric for this specific case. In this paper, we present an example of an objective metric based on human visual attention and detection of salient object in the observed scene.

Keywords: sign language, objective video quality, visual attention, saliency

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Authors: Marcos A. Dullius, Ramon C. Fernandes, Divanízia N. Souza

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The aim of this study was to develop a dynamic cardiac phantom for quality control in myocardial scintigraphy. The dynamic heart phantom constructed only contained the left ventricle, made of elastic material (latex), comprising two cavities: one internal and one external. The data showed a non-significant variation in the values of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) obtained by varying the heart rate. It was also possible to evaluate the ejection fraction (LVEF) through different arrays of image acquisition and to perform an intercomparison of LVEF by two different scintillation cameras. The results of the quality control tests were satisfactory, showing that they can be used as parameters in future assessments. The new dynamic heart phantom was demonstrated to be effective for use in LVEF measurements. Therefore, the new heart simulator is useful for the quality control of scintigraphic cameras.

Keywords: sheart, nuclear medicine, phantom

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Authors: E. Thipe, T. Workneh, A. Odindo, M. Laing

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The postharvest quality management of tomatoes is important to limit the amount of losses that occur due to deterioration between harvest and consumption. This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of pre- and postharvest integrated agrotechnologies, involving greenhouse microclimate and postharvest storage conditions, on the postharvest quality attributes of four tomato cultivars. Tomato fruit firmness, colour (hue angle (h°) and L* value), pH and total soluble solids for the cultivars Bona, Star 9037, Star 9009 and Zeal, grown in a fan-pad evaporativelycooled and an open-ended naturally-ventilated tunnel, were harvested at the mature-green stage. The tomatoes were stored for 28 days under cold storage conditions, with a temperature of 13°C and RH of 85%, and under ambient air conditions, with a temperature of 23± 2°C and RH of 52± 4%. This study has provided information on the effect of integrated pre-harvest and postharvest agro-technologies, involving greenhouse microclimate and postharvest storage environment on the postharvest quality attributes of four of the tomato cultivars in South Africa. NVT-grown tomatoes retained better textural qualities, but ripened faster by changing from green to red faster, although these were reduced under cold storage conditions. FPVT-grown tomatoes had lower firmness, but ripened slowly with higher colour attributes. With cold storage conditions, the firmness of FPVT-grown tomatoes was maintained. Cultivar Bona firmness and colour qualities depreciated the fastest, but it had higher TSS content and lower pH values. Star 9009 and Star 9037 presented better quality, by retaining higher firmness and ripening slowly, but they had the lowest TSS contents and high pH values, especially Star 9037. Cold storage improved the firmness of tomato cultivars with poor textural quality and faster colour changes.

Keywords: Greenhouse, micro-climate, tomato, postharvest quality, storage.

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Authors: Abolfazl Moeini, Elahe Alizadeh Paeenafrakaty

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The protection of groundwater resources is the great important many semiarid and arid environments. Baghan watershed is located in the north of Kangan in the Boshehr province in Iran. The groundwater resources have a vital role in supplying agricultural, drinking, domestic and industrial water demand in Baghan watershed. For our investigation into the water quality we collected 30 samples to chemical and physical analysis. The result showed the marl and evaporation deposits that contain anhydrite and gypsum is the main source of groundwater pollution, and one part of the groundwater was polluted by oil and gas industrial. Another part of the groundwater was contaminated by urban waste water. The electrical conductivity and captions and anions increased around of towns and gas refinery. Although the negative impact of untreated domestic wastewater is relatively low but the results showed strongly the negative impact of wastewater refinery is very considerable. This negative impact increased in downstream due to shallow aquifer. Additionally, the agents that adversely affect the quality of groundwater come from a variety of sources, including geology, domestic wastewater and the Jam refinery in Baghan watershed.

Keywords: Baghan watershed, Chemical quality, Groundwater, Pollution sources.

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Authors: Rim Bouhaouel, Naoufel Kraïem, Zuhoor Al Khanjari

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Unified Modeling Language (UML) is considered as one of the widespread modeling language standardized by the Object Management Group (OMG). Therefore, the model driving engineering (MDE) community attempts to provide reuse of UML diagrams, and do not construct it from scratch. The UML model appears according to a specific software development process. The existing method generation models focused on the different techniques of transformation without considering the development process. Our work aims to construct an UML component from fragments of UML diagram basing on an agile method. We define UML fragment as a portion of a UML diagram, which express a business target. To guide the generation of fragments of UML models using an agile process, we need a flexible approach, which adapts to the agile changes and covers all its activities. We use the software product line (SPL) to derive a fragment of process agile method. This paper explains our approach, named RECUP, to generate UML fragments following an agile process, and overviews the different aspects. In this paper, we present the approach and we define the different phases and artifacts.

Keywords: UML, component, fragment, agile, SPL.

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Authors: Farhad Kolahan, Mehdi Heidari

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Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) processes is an important joining process widely used in metal fabrication industries. This paper addresses modeling and optimization of this technique using a set of experimental data and regression analysis. The set of experimental data has been used to assess the influence of GMAW process parameters in weld bead geometry. The process variables considered here include voltage (V); wire feed rate (F); torch Angle (A); welding speed (S) and nozzle-to-plate distance (D). The process output characteristics include weld bead height, width and penetration. The Taguchi method and regression modeling are used in order to establish the relationships between input and output parameters. The adequacy of the model is evaluated using analysis of variance (ANOVA) technique. In the next stage, the proposed model is embedded into a Simulated Annealing (SA) algorithm to optimize the GMAW process parameters. The objective is to determine a suitable set of process parameters that can produce desired bead geometry, considering the ranges of the process parameters. Computational results prove the effectiveness of the proposed model and optimization procedure.

Keywords: Weld Bead Geometry, GMAW welding, Processparameters Optimization, Modeling, SA algorithm

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Authors: Jaroslav Polec, Petra Heribanová, Tomáš Hirner

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In this paper we proposed a method for finding video frames representing one sign in the finger alphabet. The method is based on determining hands location, segmentation and the use of standard video quality evaluation metrics. Metric calculation is performed only in regions of interest. Sliding mechanism for finding local extrema and adaptive threshold based on local averaging is used for key frames selection. The success rate is evaluated by recall, precision and F1 measure. The method effectiveness is compared with metrics applied to all frames. Proposed method is fast, effective and relatively easy to realize by simple input video preprocessing and subsequent use of tools designed for video quality measuring.

Keywords: Key frame, video, quality, metric, MSE, MSAD, SSIM, VQM, sign language, finger alphabet.

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Authors: O. Ualibek, C. Spitas, V. Inglezakis, G. Itskos

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This study presents simulations of an aluminium melt containing an initially non-dispersed fly ash nanoparticle phase. Mixing is affected predominantly by means of forced extensional flow via either straight or slanted orifices. The sensitivity to various process parameters is determined. The simulated process is used for the production of cast fly ash-aluminium nanocomposites. The possibilities for rod and plate stock grading in the context of a continuous casting process implementation are discussed.

Keywords: Metal matrix composites, fly ash nanoparticles, aluminium 2024, agglomeration.

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Authors: B.Tavakoly Sany, A.H .Sulaiman, GH. Monazami, A. Salleh

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Eight heavy metals (Cu, Cr, Zn, Hg, Pb, Cd, Ni and As) were analyzed in sediment samples in the dry and wet seasons from November 2009 to October 2010 in West Port of Peninsular Malaysia. The heavy metal concentrations (mg/kg dry weight) were ranged from 23.4 to 98.3 for Zn, 22.3 to 80 for Pb, 7.4 to 27.6 Cu, 0.244 to 3.53 for Cd, 7.2 to 22.2 for Ni, 20.2 to 162 for As, 0.11 to 0.409 for Hg and 11.5 to 61.5 for Cr. Metals concentrations in dry season were higher than the rainy season except in cupper and chromium. Analysis of variance with Statistical Analysis System (SAS) shows that the mean concentration of metals in the two seasons (α level=0.05) are not significantly different which shows that the metals were held firmly in the matrix of sediment. Also there are significant differences between control point station with other stations. According to the Interim Sediment Quality guidelines (ISQG), the metal concentrations are moderately polluted, except in arsenic which shows the highest level of pollution.

Keywords: Heavy metals, sediment quality guidelines, west port.

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Authors: Firas Mohamad Al-Sabek

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The purpose of the paper is to examine the most critical and important factor which will affect the implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) in the construction industry in the United Arab Emirates. It also examines the most effected Project outcome from implementing TQM. A framework was also proposed depending on the literature studies. The method used in this paper is a quantitative study. A survey with a sample of 60 respondents was created and distributed in a construction company in Abu Dhabi, which includes 15 questions to examine the most critical factor that will affect the implementation of TQM in addition to the most effected project outcome from implementing TQM. The survey showed that management commitment is the most important factor in implementing TQM in a construction company. Also it showed that Project cost is most effected outcome from the implementation of TQM. Management commitment is very important for implementing TQM in any company. If the management loose interest in quality then everyone in the organization will do so. The success of TQM will depend mostly on the top of the pyramid. Also cost is reduced and money is saved when the project team implement TQM. While if no quality measures are present within the team, the project will suffer a commercial failure. Based on literature, more factors can be examined and added to the model. In addition, more construction companies could be surveyed in order to obtain more accurate results. Also this study could be conducted outside the United Arab Emirates for further enchantment.

Keywords: Construction project, total quality management, management commitment, cost, theoretical framework.

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Authors: Salvatore L., Pires B., Campos M. C. M., De Souza Jr M. B.

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It is estimated that the total cost of abnormal conditions to US process industries is around $20 billion dollars in annual losses. The hydrotreatment (HDT) of diesel fuel in petroleum refineries is a conversion process that leads to high profitable economical returns. However, this is a difficult process to control because it is operated continuously, with high hydrogen pressures and it is also subject to disturbances in feed properties and catalyst performance. So, the automatic detection of fault and diagnosis plays an important role in this context. In this work, a hybrid approach based on neural networks together with a pos-processing classification algorithm is used to detect faults in a simulated HDT unit. Nine classes (8 faults and the normal operation) were correctly classified using the proposed approach in a maximum time of 5 minutes, based on on-line data process measurements.

Keywords: Fault detection, hydrotreatment, hybrid systems, neural networks.

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Authors: V. K. Singh, P. K. Padhy

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This paper describes identification of the two poles unstable SOPDT process, especially with large time delay. A new modified relay feedback identification method for two poles unstable SOPDT process is proposed. Furthermore, for the two poles unstable SOPDT process, an additional Derivative controller is incorporated parallel with relay to relax the constraint on the ratio of delay to the unstable time constant, so that the exact model parameters of unstable processes can be identified. To cope with measurement noise in practice, a low pass filter is suggested to get denoised output signal toimprove the exactness of model parameter of unstable process. PID Lead-lag tuning formulas are derived for two poles unstable (SOPDT) processes based on IMC principle. Simulation example illustrates the effectiveness and the simplicity of the proposed identification and control method.

Keywords: IMC structure, PID Lead-lag controller, Relayfeedback, SOPDT

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Authors: Jānis Zuters

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There are a lot of extensions made to the classic model of multi-layer perceptron (MLP). A notable amount of them has been designed to hasten the learning process without considering the quality of generalization. The paper proposes a new MLP extension based on exploiting topology of the input layer of the network. Experimental results show the extended model to improve upon generalization capability in certain cases. The new model requires additional computational resources to compare to the classic model, nevertheless the loss in efficiency isn-t regarded to be significant.

Keywords: Learning algorithm, multi-layer perceptron, topology.

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Authors: A. H. Hendry, H. S. Mogindol

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There is an increasing worldwide demand on the field of interaction with wildlife tourism. Studies pertaining to the service quality within the sphere of interaction with wildlife tourism are plentiful. However, studies on service quality in wildlife attractions, especially on semi-captured wildlife tourism are still limited. The Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre (SORC) in Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia is one good example of a semi-captured wildlife attraction and a renowned attraction in Sabah. This study presents a gap analysis by measuring the perception and expectation of service quality at SORC through the use of a modified SERVQUAL, referred to as WILSERV. A survey questionnaire was devised and administered to 190 visitors who visited SORC. The study revealed that all the means of the six dimensions for perceived perceptions were lower than the expectations. The highest gap was from the dimension of reliability (-0.21), followed by tangible (-0.17), responsiveness (-0.11), assurance, (-0.11), empathy (-0.11) and wild-tangible (-0.05). Similarly, the study also showed that all six dimensions for perceived perceptions means were lower than the expectations for both local and foreign visitors.

Keywords: Gap analysis, service quality, WILSERV, wildlife tourism.

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Authors: M. H. Zarei, A. Nikakhtar, A. H. Roudsari, N. Madadi, K. Y. Wong

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Improving performance measures in the construction processes has been a major concern for managers and decision makers in the industry. They seek for ways to recognize the key factors which have the largest effect on the process. Identifying such factors can guide them to focus on the right parts of the process in order to gain the best possible result. In the present study design of experiment (DOE) has been applied to a computer simulation model of brick laying process to determine significant factors while productivity has been chosen as the response of the experiment. To this end, four controllable factors and their interaction have been experimented and the best factor level has been calculated for each one. The results indicate that three factors, namely, labor of brick, labor of mortar and inter arrival time of mortar along with interaction of labor of brick and labor of mortar are significant.

Keywords: Brick laying process, computer simulation, design of experiment, significant factors.

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Authors: Sudhir Agashe, Ashok Ghatol, Sujata Agashe

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In this paper the development of a heat exchanger as a pilot plant for educational purpose is discussed and the use of neural network for controlling the process is being presented. The aim of the study is to highlight the need of a specific Pseudo Random Binary Sequence (PRBS) to excite a process under control. As the neural network is a data driven technique, the method for data generation plays an important role. In light of this a careful experimentation procedure for data generation was crucial task. Heat exchange is a complex process, which has a capacity and a time lag as process elements. The proposed system is a typical pipe-in- pipe type heat exchanger. The complexity of the system demands careful selection, proper installation and commissioning. The temperature, flow, and pressure sensors play a vital role in the control performance. The final control element used is a pneumatically operated control valve. While carrying out the experimentation on heat exchanger a welldrafted procedure is followed giving utmost attention towards safety of the system. The results obtained are encouraging and revealing the fact that if the process details are known completely as far as process parameters are concerned and utilities are well stabilized then feedback systems are suitable, whereas neural network control paradigm is useful for the processes with nonlinearity and less knowledge about process. The implementation of NN control reinforces the concepts of process control and NN control paradigm. The result also underlined the importance of excitation signal typically for that process. Data acquisition, processing, and presentation in a typical format are the most important parameters while validating the results.

Keywords: Process identification, neural network, heat exchanger.

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Authors: I. R. Kanu, T. J. Aspray, A. J. Adeloye

Abstract:

As a result of the ambiguity and complexity surrounding anaerobic digester foaming, efforts have been made by various researchers to understand the process of anaerobic digester foaming so as to proffer a solution that can be universally applied rather than site specific. All attempts ranging from experimental analysis to comparative review of other process has not fully explained the conditions and process of foaming in anaerobic digester. Studying the current available knowledge on foam formation and relating it to anaerobic digester process and operating condition, this piece of work presents a succinct and enhanced understanding of foaming in anaerobic digesters as well as introducing a simple method to identify the onset of anaerobic digester foaming based on analysis of historical data from a field scale system.

Keywords: Anaerobic digester, foam, biogas, surfactants, wastewater sludge.

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Authors: G. Sevilla, S. Zapata, F. Giraldo, E. Torres, C. Collazos

Abstract:

This work describes a framework for teaching of global software engineering (GSE) in university undergraduate programs. This framework proposes a method of teaching that incorporates adequate techniques of software requirements elicitation and validated tools of communication, critical aspects to global software development scenarios. The use of proposed framework allows teachers to simulate small software development companies formed by Latin American students, which build information systems. Students from three Latin American universities played the roles of engineers by applying an iterative development of a requirements specification in a global software project. The proposed framework involves the use of a specific purpose Wiki for asynchronous communication between the participants of the process. It is also a practice to improve the quality of software requirements that are formulated by the students. The additional motivation of students to participate in these practices, in conjunction with peers from other countries, is a significant additional factor that positively contributes to the learning process. The framework promotes skills for communication, negotiation, and other complementary competencies that are useful for working on GSE scenarios.

Keywords: Requirements analysis, distributed requirements engineering, practical experiences, collaborative support.

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