Search results for: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills and Teamwork Skills
4214 Optimization Technique in Scheduling Duck Tours
Authors: Norhazwani M. Y., Khoo, C. F., Hasrul Nisham R.
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Tourism industries are rapidly increased for the last few years especially in Malaysia. In order to attract more tourists, Malaysian Governance encourages any effort to increase Malaysian tourism industry. One of the efforts in attracting more tourists in Malacca, Malaysia is a duck tour. Duck tour is an amphibious sightseeing tour that works in two types of engines, hence, it required a huge cost to operate and maintain the vehicle. To other country, it is not so new but in Malaysia, it is just introduced, thus it does not have any systematic routing yet. Therefore, this paper proposed an optimization technique to formulate and schedule this tour to minimize the operating costs by considering it into Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP). The problem is then can be solved by one of the optimization technique especially meta-heuristics approach such as Tabu Search (TS) and Reactive Tabu Search (RTS).Keywords: Optimization, Reactive Tabu Search, Tabu Search, Travelling Salesman Problem
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17014213 Through the Lens of Forced Displacement: Refugee Women's Rights as Human Rights
Authors: Pearl K. Atuhaire, Sylvia Kaye
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While the need for equal access to civil, political as well as economic, social and cultural rights is clear under the international law, the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against women in 1979 made this even clearer. Despite this positive progress, the abuse of refugee women's rights is one of the basic underlying root causes of their marginalisation and violence in their countries of asylum. This paper presents a critical review on the development of refugee women's rights at the international levels and national levels. It provides an array of scholarly literature on this issue and examines the measures taken by the international community to curb the problem of violence against women in their various provisions through the instruments set. It is cognizant of the fact that even if conflict affects both refugee women and men, the effects on women refugees are deep-reaching, due to the cultural strongholds they face. An important aspect of this paper is that it is conceptualised against the fact that refugee women face the problem of sexual and gender based first as refugees and second as women, yet, their rights are stumbled upon. Often times they have been rendered "worthless victims" who are only in need of humanitarian assistance than active participants committed to change their plight through their participation in political, economic and social participation in their societies. Scholars have taken notice of the fact that women's rights in refugee settings have been marginalized and call for a need to incorporate their perspectives in the planning and management of refugee settings in which they live. Underpinning this discussion is feminism theory which gives a clear understanding of the root cause of refugee women's problems. Finally, this paper suggests that these policies should be translated into action at local, national international and regional levels to ensure sustainable peace.
Keywords: Feminism theory, human rights, refugee women, sexual and gender based violence.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18014212 Uncontrollable Inaccuracy in Inverse Problems
Authors: Yu. Menshikov
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In this paper the influence of errors of function derivatives in initial time which have been obtained by experiment (uncontrollable inaccuracy) to the results of inverse problem solution was investigated. It was shown that these errors distort the inverse problem solution as a rule near the beginning of interval where the solutions are analyzed. Several methods for removing the influence of uncontrollable inaccuracy have been suggested.
Keywords: Inverse problems, uncontrollable inaccuracy, filtration.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11704211 Modeling Erosion Control in Oil Production Wells
Authors: Kenneth I.Eshiet, Yong Sheng
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The sand production problem has led researchers into making various attempts to understand the phenomenon. The generally accepted concept is that the occurrence of sanding is due to the in-situ stress conditions and the induced changes in stress that results in the failure of the reservoir sandstone during hydrocarbon production from wellbores. By using a hypothetical cased (perforated) well, an approach to the problem is presented here by using Finite Element numerical modelling techniques. In addition to the examination of the erosion problem, the influence of certain key parameters is studied in order to ascertain their effect on the failure and subsequent erosion process. The major variables investigated include: drawdown, perforation depth, and the erosion criterion. Also included is the determination of the optimal mud pressure for given operational and reservoir conditions. The improved understanding between parameters enables the choice of optimal values to minimize sanding during oil production.
Keywords: Equivalent Plastic Strain, Erosion, Hydrocarbon Production.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14724210 Scheduling Maintenance Actions for Gas Turbines Aircraft Engines
Authors: Anis Gharbi
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This paper considers the problem of scheduling maintenance actions for identical aircraft gas turbine engines. Each one of the turbines consists of parts which frequently require replacement. A finite inventory of spare parts is available and all parts are ready for replacement at any time. The inventory consists of both new and refurbished parts. Hence, these parts have different field lives. The goal is to find a replacement part sequencing that maximizes the time that the aircraft will keep functioning before the inventory is replenished. The problem is formulated as an identical parallel machine scheduling problem where the minimum completion time has to be maximized. Two models have been developed. The first one is an optimization model which is based on a 0-1 linear programming formulation, while the second one is an approximate procedure which consists in decomposing the problem into several two-machine subproblems. Each subproblem is optimally solved using the first model. Both models have been implemented using Lingo and have been tested on two sets of randomly generated data with up to 150 parts and 10 turbines. Experimental results show that the optimization model is able to solve only instances with no more than 4 turbines, while the decomposition procedure often provides near-optimal solutions within a maximum CPU time of 3 seconds.
Keywords: Aircraft turbines, Scheduling, Identical parallel machines, 0-1 linear programming, Heuristic.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20024209 Application of “Multiple Risk Communicator“ to the Personal Information Leakage Problem
Authors: Mitsuhiro Taniyama, Yuu Hidaka, Masato Arai, Satoshi Kai, Hiromi Igawa, Hiroshi Yajima, Ryoichi Sasaki
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Along with the progress of our information society, various risks are becoming increasingly common, causing multiple social problems. For this reason, risk communications for establishing consensus among stakeholders who have different priorities have become important. However, it is not always easy for the decision makers to agree on measures to reduce risks based on opposing concepts, such as security, privacy and cost. Therefore, we previously developed and proposed the “Multiple Risk Communicator" (MRC) with the following functions: (1) modeling the support role of the risk specialist, (2) an optimization engine, and (3) displaying the computed results. In this paper, MRC program version 1.0 is applied to the personal information leakage problem. The application process and validation of the results are discussed.Keywords: Decision Making, Personal Information Leakage Problem, Risk Communication, Risk Management
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16084208 Generation Scheduling Optimization of Multi-Hydroplants: A Case Study
Authors: Shuangquan Liu, Jinwen Wang, Dada Wang
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A case study of the generation scheduling optimization of the multi-hydroplants on the Yuan River Basin in China is reported in this paper. Concerning the uncertainty of the inflows, the long/mid-term generation scheduling (LMTGS) problem is solved by a stochastic model in which the inflows are considered as stochastic variables. For the short-term generation scheduling (STGS) problem, a constraint violation priority is defined in case not all constraints are satisfied. Provided the stage-wise separable condition and low dimensions, the hydroplant-based operational region schedules (HBORS) problem is solved by dynamic programming (DP). The coordination of LMTGS and STGS is presented as well. The feasibility and the effectiveness of the models and solution methods are verified by the numerical results.Keywords: generation scheduling, multi-hydroplants, optimization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15514207 Mathematical Model and Solution Algorithm for Containership Operation/Maintenance Scheduling
Authors: Hun Go, Ji-Su Kim, Dong-Ho Lee
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This study considers the problem of determining operation and maintenance schedules for a containership equipped with components during its sailing according to a pre-determined navigation schedule. The operation schedule, which specifies work time of each component, determines the due-date of each maintenance activity, and the maintenance schedule specifies the actual start time of each maintenance activity. The main constraints are component requirements, workforce availability, working time limitation, and inter-maintenance time. To represent the problem mathematically, a mixed integer programming model is developed. Then, due to the problem complexity, we suggest a heuristic for the objective of minimizing the sum of earliness and tardiness between the due-date and the starting time of each maintenance activity. Computational experiments were done on various test instances and the results are reported.Keywords: Containerships, operation and preventive maintenance schedules, integer programming, heuristic
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16144206 The Error Analysis of An Upwind Difference Approximation for a Singularly Perturbed Problem
Authors: Jiming Yang
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An upwind difference approximation is used for a singularly perturbed problem in material science. Based on the discrete Green-s function theory, the error estimate in maximum norm is achieved, which is first-order uniformly convergent with respect to the perturbation parameter. The numerical experimental result is verified the valid of the theoretical analysis.
Keywords: Singularly perturbed, upwind difference, uniform convergence.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13994205 An Innovative Approach to the Formulation of Connection Admission Control Problem
Authors: Carlo Bruni, Francesco Delli Priscoli, Giorgio Koch, Ilaria Marchetti
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This paper proposes an innovative approach for the Connection Admission Control (CAC) problem. Starting from an abstract network modelling, the CAC problem is formulated in a technology independent fashion allowing the proposed concepts to be applied to any wireless and wired domain. The proposed CAC is decoupled from the other Resource Management procedures, but cooperates with them in order to guarantee the desired QoS requirements. Moreover, it is based on suitable performance measurements which, by using proper predictors, allow to forecast the domain dynamics in the next future. Finally, the proposed CAC control scheme is based on a feedback loop aiming at maximizing a suitable performance index accounting for the domain throughput, whilst respecting a set of constraints accounting for the QoS requirements.
Keywords: Network Management, Quality of Service (QoS) requirements, Optimal Control.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22874204 Improved Hill Climbing and Simulated Annealing Algorithms for Size Optimization of Trusses
Authors: Morteza Kazemi Torbaghan, Seyed Mehran Kazemi, Rahele Zhiani, Fakhriye Hamed
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Truss optimization problem has been vastly studied during the past 30 years and many different methods have been proposed for this problem. Even though most of these methods assume that the design variables are continuously valued, in reality, the design variables of optimization problems such as cross-sectional areas are discretely valued. In this paper, an improved hill climbing and an improved simulated annealing algorithm have been proposed to solve the truss optimization problem with discrete values for crosssectional areas. Obtained results have been compared to other methods in the literature and the comparison represents that the proposed methods can be used more efficiently than other proposed methodsKeywords: Size Optimization of Trusses, Hill Climbing, Simulated Annealing.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 37174203 New Approach for Minimizing Wavelength Fragmentation in Wavelength-Routed WDM Networks
Authors: Sami Baraketi, Jean-Marie Garcia, Olivier Brun
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Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) is the dominant transport technology used in numerous high capacity backbone networks, based on optical infrastructures. Given the importance of costs (CapEx and OpEx) associated to these networks, resource management is becoming increasingly important, especially how the optical circuits, called “lightpaths”, are routed throughout the network. This requires the use of efficient algorithms which provide routing strategies with the lowest cost. We focus on the lightpath routing and wavelength assignment problem, known as the RWA problem, while optimizing wavelength fragmentation over the network. Wavelength fragmentation poses a serious challenge for network operators since it leads to the misuse of the wavelength spectrum, and then to the refusal of new lightpath requests. In this paper, we first establish a new Integer Linear Program (ILP) for the problem based on a node-link formulation. This formulation is based on a multilayer approach where the original network is decomposed into several network layers, each corresponding to a wavelength. Furthermore, we propose an efficient heuristic for the problem based on a greedy algorithm followed by a post-treatment procedure. The obtained results show that the optimal solution is often reached. We also compare our results with those of other RWA heuristic methods
Keywords: WDM, lightpath, RWA, wavelength fragmentation, optimization, linear programming, heuristic
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18714202 Economic Dispatch Fuzzy Linear Regression and Optimization
Authors: A. K. Al-Othman
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This study presents a new approach based on Tanaka's fuzzy linear regression (FLP) algorithm to solve well-known power system economic load dispatch problem (ELD). Tanaka's fuzzy linear regression (FLP) formulation will be employed to compute the optimal solution of optimization problem after linearization. The unknowns are expressed as fuzzy numbers with a triangular membership function that has middle and spread value reflected on the unknowns. The proposed fuzzy model is formulated as a linear optimization problem, where the objective is to minimize the sum of the spread of the unknowns, subject to double inequality constraints. Linear programming technique is employed to obtain the middle and the symmetric spread for every unknown (power generation level). Simulation results of the proposed approach will be compared with those reported in literature.Keywords: Economic Dispatch, Fuzzy Linear Regression (FLP)and Optimization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22934201 Statistical Process Optimization Through Multi-Response Surface Methodology
Authors: S. Raissi, R- Eslami Farsani
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In recent years, response surface methodology (RSM) has brought many attentions of many quality engineers in different industries. Most of the published literature on robust design methodology is basically concerned with optimization of a single response or quality characteristic which is often most critical to consumers. For most products, however, quality is multidimensional, so it is common to observe multiple responses in an experimental situation. Through this paper interested person will be familiarize with this methodology via surveying of the most cited technical papers. It is believed that the proposed procedure in this study can resolve a complex parameter design problem with more than two responses. It can be applied to those areas where there are large data sets and a number of responses are to be optimized simultaneously. In addition, the proposed procedure is relatively simple and can be implemented easily by using ready-made standard statistical packages.Keywords: Multi-Response Surface Methodology (MRSM), Design of Experiments (DOE), Process modeling, Quality improvement; Robust Design.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 44584200 Effect of U-Turn in Reinforced Concrete Dog-Legged Stair Slabs
Authors: Abdul Baqi, Zaid Mohammad
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Reinforced concrete stair slabs with mid landings i.e. Dog-legged shaped are conventionally designed as per specifications of standard codes of practices which guide about the effective span according to the varying support conditions. Presently, the behavior of such slabs has been investigated using Finite Element method. A single flight stair slab with landings on both sides and supported at ends on wall, and a multi flight stair slab with landings and six different support arrangements have been analyzed. The results obtained for stresses, strains and deflections are used to describe the behavior of such stair slabs, including locations of critical moments and deflections. Values of critical moments obtained by F.E. analysis have also have been compared with that obtained from conventional analysis. Analytical results show that the moments are also critical near the kinks i.e. junction of mid-landing and inclined waist slab. This change in the behavior of dog-legged stair slab may be due to continuity of the material in transverse direction in two landings adjoining the waist slab, hence additional stiffness achieved. This change in the behavior is generally not taken care of in conventional method of design.Keywords: Dog-legged, Stair slab, F.E. Analysis, Landing, Reinforced concrete.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 45544199 Influence of Internal Heat Source on Thermal Instability in a Horizontal Porous Layer with Mass Flow and Inclined Temperature Gradient
Authors: Anjanna Matta, P. A. L. Narayana
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An investigation has been presented to analyze the effect of internal heat source on the onset of Hadley-Prats flow in a horizontal fluid saturated porous medium. We examine a better understanding of the combined influence of the heat source and mass flow effect by using linear stability analysis. The resultant eigenvalue problem is solved by using shooting and Runga-Kutta methods for evaluate critical thermal Rayleigh number with respect to various flow governing parameters. It is identified that the flow is switch from stabilizing to destabilizing as the horizontal thermal Rayleigh number is enhanced. The heat source and mass flow increases resulting a stronger destabilizing effect.Keywords: Linear stability analysis, heat source, porous medium, mass flow.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17204198 Comparison of Three Meta Heuristics to Optimize Hybrid Flow Shop Scheduling Problem with Parallel Machines
Authors: Wahyudin P. Syam, Ibrahim M. Al-Harkan
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This study compares three meta heuristics to minimize makespan (Cmax) for Hybrid Flow Shop (HFS) Scheduling Problem with Parallel Machines. This problem is known to be NP-Hard. This study proposes three algorithms among improvement heuristic searches which are: Genetic Algorithm (GA), Simulated Annealing (SA), and Tabu Search (TS). SA and TS are known as deterministic improvement heuristic search. GA is known as stochastic improvement heuristic search. A comprehensive comparison from these three improvement heuristic searches is presented. The results for the experiments conducted show that TS is effective and efficient to solve HFS scheduling problems.
Keywords: Flow shop, genetic algorithm, simulated annealing, tabu search.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20674197 The Applicability of the Zipper Strut to Seismic Rehabilitation of Steel Structures
Authors: G. R. Nouri, H. Imani Kalesar, Zahra Ameli
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Chevron frames (Inverted-V-braced frames or Vbraced frames) have seismic disadvantages, such as not good exhibit force redistribution capability and compression brace buckles immediately. Researchers developed new design provisions on increasing both the ductility and lateral resistance of these structures in seismic areas. One of these new methods is adding zipper columns, as proposed by Khatib et al. (1988) [2]. Zipper columns are vertical members connecting the intersection points of the braces above the first floor. In this paper applicability of the suspended zipper system to Seismic Rehabilitation of Steel Structures is investigated. The models are 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-story Inverted-V-braced frames. In this case, it is assumed that the structures must be rehabilitated. For rehabilitation of structures, zipper column is used. The result of researches showed that the suspended zipper system is effective in case of 3-, 6-, and 9-story Inverted-V-braced frames and it would increase lateral resistance of structure up to life safety level. But in case of high-rise buildings (such as 12 story frame), it doesn-t show good performance. For solving this problem, the braced bay can consist of small “units" over the height of the entire structure, which each of them is a zipper-braced bay with a few stories. By using this method the lateral resistance of 12 story Inverted-V-braced frames is increased up to safety life level.Keywords: chevron-braced frames, suspended zipper frames, zipper frames, zipper columns
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22224196 Critical Analysis of Different Actuation Techniques for a Micro Cantilever
Authors: B. G. Sheeparamatti, Prashant Hanasi, Vanita Abbigeri
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The objective of this work is to carryout critical comparison of different actuation mechanisms like electrostatic, thermal, piezoelectric, and magnetic with reference to a micro cantilever. The relevant parameters like force generated, displacement are compared in actuation methods. With these results, helps in choosing the best actuation method for a particular application. In this study, Comsol/Multiphysics software is used. Modeling and simulation is done by considering the micro cantilever of same dimensions as an actuator using all the above mentioned actuation techniques. In addition to their small size, micro actuators consume very little power and are capable of accurate results. In this work, a comparison of actuation mechanisms is done to decide the efficient system in micro domain.Keywords: Actuation techniques, microswitch, micro actuator, microsystems.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24204195 Optimal Sizing of SSSC Controllers to Minimize Transmission Loss and a Novel Model of SSSC to Study Transient Response
Authors: A. M. El-Zonkoly
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In this paper, based on steady-state models of Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) devices, the sizing of static synchronous series compensator (SSSC) controllers in transmission network is formed as an optimization problem. The objective of this problem is to reduce the transmission losses in the network. The optimization problem is solved using particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique. The Newton-Raphson load flow algorithm is modified to consider the insertion of the SSSC devices in the network. A numerical example, illustrating the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, is introduced. In addition, a novel model of a 3- phase voltage source converter (VSC) that is suitable for series connected FACTS a controller is introduced. The model is verified by simulation using Power System Blockset (PSB) and Simulink software.Keywords: FACTS, Modeling, PSO, SSSC, Transmission lossreduction.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22774194 A Fuzzy Mathematical Model for Order Acceptance and Scheduling Problem
Authors: E. Koyuncu
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The problem of Order Acceptance and Scheduling (OAS) is defined as a joint decision of which orders to accept for processing and how to schedule them. Any linear programming model representing real-world situation involves the parameters defined by the decision maker in an uncertain way or by means of language statement. Fuzzy data can be used to incorporate vagueness in the real-life situation. In this study, a fuzzy mathematical model is proposed for a single machine OAS problem, where the orders are defined by their fuzzy due dates, fuzzy processing times, and fuzzy sequence dependent setup times. The signed distance method, one of the fuzzy ranking methods, is used to handle the fuzzy constraints in the model.
Keywords: Fuzzy mathematical programming, fuzzy ranking, order acceptance, single machine scheduling.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 12834193 Organizational Involvement and Employees’ Consumption of New Work Practices in State-owned Enterprises: The Ghanaian Case
Authors: M. Aminu Sanda, K. Ewontumah
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This paper explored the challenges faced by the management of a Ghanaian state enterprise in managing conflicts and disturbances associated with its attempt to implement new work practices to enhance its capability to operate as a commercial entity. The purpose was to understand the extent to which organizational involvement, consistency and adaptability influence employees’ consumption of new work practices in transforming the organization’s organizational activity system. Using selfadministered questionnaires, data were collected from one hundred and eighty (180) employees and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results showed that constraints in organizational involvement and adaptability prevented the positive consumption of new work practices by employees in the organization. It is also found that the organization’s employees failed to consume the new practices being implemented, because they perceived the process as non-involving, and as such, did not encourage the development of employee capability, empowerment, and teamwork. The study concluded that the failure of the organization’s management to create opportunities for organizational learning constrained its ability to get employees consume the new work practices, which situation could have facilitated the organization’s capabilities of operating as a commercial entity.Keywords: Organizational transformation, new work practices, work practice consumption, organizational involvement, state-owned enterprise, Ghana.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15764192 Extracting Tongue Shape Dynamics from Magnetic Resonance Image Sequences
Authors: María S. Avila-García, John N. Carter, Robert I. Damper
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An important problem in speech research is the automatic extraction of information about the shape and dimensions of the vocal tract during real-time speech production. We have previously developed Southampton dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (SDMRI) as an approach to the solution of this problem.However, the SDMRI images are very noisy so that shape extraction is a major challenge. In this paper, we address the problem of tongue shape extraction, which poses difficulties because this is a highly deforming non-parametric shape. We show that combining active shape models with the dynamic Hough transform allows the tongue shape to be reliably tracked in the image sequence.
Keywords: Vocal tract imaging, speech production, active shapemodels, dynamic Hough transform, object tracking.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17354191 The Low-fertility problem in Hong Kong: Do Mainlanders- Births Help to Rejuvenate Low-fertility Problem?
Authors: Nancy, Ling Sze Leung
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Hong Kong is one of the regions in the world where Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is very low. In 2001, the TFR dropped until 0.931, which means 1 woman even cannot give birth to one child on average. However, after the reformation of the 'Right of Abode of Hong Kong' in 2001 and the Chinese Central Government loosened the disembarkation procedure of mainland Chinese (mainlander) to enter Hong Kong in 2003; mainlander couples started to cross the border for giving births in Hong Kong. This action raises Hong Kong-s TFR quickly from 0.931 (2001) to 1.094 (2010). Usually, an increasing trend of TFR means a sign of rejuvenation in low-fertility, but in the case of Hong Kong, the increase of TFR does not, rather it generates other population problems. This paper is going to discuss do mainlanders- births help to solve the low-fertility problem in Hong Kong.
Keywords: Cross Border Birth, Low-fertility, Mainlander, Total Fertility Rate
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18094190 Reducing Stock-out Incidents at a Hospital Using Six Sigma
Authors: Lina Al-Qatawneh, Abdallah Abdallah, Salam Zalloum
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In managing healthcare logistics, cost is not the only factor to be considered. The level of items- criticality used in patient care services plays an important role as well. A stock-out incident of a high critical item could threaten a patient's life. In this paper, the DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) methodology is used to drive improvement projects based on customer driven critical to quality characteristics at a Jordanian hospital. This paper shows how the application of Six Sigma improves the performance of the case hospital logistics system by reducing the number of stock-out incidents.Keywords: Criticality level, Healthcare, Logistics, and Six Sigma.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 37224189 Fretting Fatigue behavior of Bolted Single Lap Joints of Aluminum Alloys
Authors: Hadi Rezghi Maleki, Babak Abazadeh
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In this paper, the effect of bolt clamping force on the fatigue behavior of bolted single lap joints of aluminum alloy 2024- T3 have been studied using numerical finite element method. To do so, a three dimensional model according to the bolted single lap joint has been created and numerical analysis has been carried out using finite element based package. Then the stress distribution and also the slip amplitudes have been calculated in the critical regions and the outcome have been compared with the available experimental fatigue tests results. The numerical results show that in low applied clamping force, the fatigue failure of the specimens occur around the stress concentration location (the bolted hole edge) due to the tensile stresses and thus fatigue crack propagation, but with increase of the clamping force, the fatigue life increases and the cracks nucleate and propagate far from the hole edge because of fretting fatigue. In other words, with the further increase of clamping force value of the joint, the fatigue life reduces due to occurrence of the fretting fatigue in the critical location where the slip amplitude is within its critical occurs earlier.
Keywords: Fretting fatigue, bolted single lap joint, torque tightening, finite element method.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 25514188 Mechanical Modeling Issues in Optimization of Dynamic Behavior of RF MEMS Switches
Authors: Suhas K, Sripadaraja K
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This paper details few mechanical modeling and design issues of RF MEMS switches. We concentrate on an electrostatically actuated broad side series switch; surface micromachined with a crab leg membrane. The same results are extended to any complex structure. With available experimental data and fabrication results, we present the variation in dynamic performance and compliance of the switch with reference to few design issues, which we find are critical in deciding the dynamic behavior of the switch, without compromise on the RF characteristics. The optimization of pull in voltage, transient time and resonant frequency with regard to these critical design parameters are also presented.Keywords: Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS), RadioFrequency MEMS, Modeling, Actuators
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17604187 Virtual Machines Cooperation for Impatient Jobs under Cloud Paradigm
Authors: Nawfal A. Mehdi, Ali Mamat, Hamidah Ibrahim, Shamala K. Syrmabn
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The increase on the demand of IT resources diverts the enterprises to use the cloud as a cheap and scalable solution. Cloud computing promises achieved by using the virtual machine as a basic unite of computation. However, the virtual machine pre-defined settings might be not enough to handle jobs QoS requirements. This paper addresses the problem of mapping jobs have critical start deadlines to virtual machines that have predefined specifications. These virtual machines hosted by physical machines and shared a fixed amount of bandwidth. This paper proposed an algorithm that uses the idle virtual machines bandwidth to increase the quote of other virtual machines nominated as executors to urgent jobs. An algorithm with empirical study have been given to evaluate the impact of the proposed model on impatient jobs. The results show the importance of dynamic bandwidth allocation in virtualized environment and its affect on throughput metric.Keywords: Insufficient bandwidth, virtual machine, cloudprovider, impatient jobs.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16804186 A Linearization and Decomposition Based Approach to Minimize the Non-Productive Time in Transfer Lines
Authors: Hany Osman, M. F. Baki
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We address the balancing problem of transfer lines in this paper to find the optimal line balancing that minimizes the nonproductive time. We focus on the tool change time and face orientation change time both of which influence the makespane. We consider machine capacity limitations and technological constraints associated with the manufacturing process of auto cylinder heads. The problem is represented by a mixed integer programming model that aims at distributing the design features to workstations and sequencing the machining processes at a minimum non-productive time. The proposed model is solved by an algorithm established using linearization schemes and Benders- decomposition approach. The experiments show the efficiency of the algorithm in reaching the exact solution of small and medium problem instances at reasonable time.Keywords: Transfer line balancing, Benders' decomposition, Linearization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17314185 Application of GAMS and GA in the Location and Penetration of Distributed Generation
Authors: Alireza Dehghani Pilehvarani, Mojtaba Hakimzadeh, Mohammad Jafari Far, Reza Sedaghati
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Distributed Generation (DG) can help in reducing the cost of electricity to the costumer, relieve network congestion and provide environmentally friendly energy close to load centers. Its capacity is also scalable and it provides voltage support at distribution level. Hence, DG placement and penetration level is an important problem for both the utility and DG owner. DG allocation and capacity determination is a nonlinear optimization problem. The objective function of this problem is the minimization of the total loss of the distribution system. Also high levels of penetration of DG are a new challenge for traditional electric power systems. This paper presents a new methodology for the optimal placement of DG and penetration level of DG in distribution system based on General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS) and Genetic Algorithm (GA).
Keywords: Distributed Generation, Location, Loss Reduction, Distribution Network, GA, GAMS.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2634