Search results for: public service
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 2131

Search results for: public service

601 Guidelines for the Management and Sustainability Development of Forest Tourism Kamchanoad Baan Dung, Udon Thani

Authors: Pennapa Palapin

Abstract:

This study aimed to examine the management and development of forest tourism Kamchanoad. Ban Dung, Udon Thani sustainability. Data were collected by means of qualitative research including in-depth interviews, semi- structured, and then the data were summarized and discussed in accordance with the objectives. And make a presentation in the form of lectures. The target population for the study consisted of 16 people, including representatives from government agencies, community leaders and the community. The results showed that Guidelines for the Management and Development of Forest Tourism Kamchanoad include management of buildings and infrastructure such as roads, water, electricity, toilets. Other developments are the establishment of a service center that provides information and resources to facilitate tourists.; nature trails and informative signage to educate visitors on the path to the jungle Kamchanoad; forest activities for tourists who are interested only in occasional educational activities such as vegetation, etc.; disseminating information on various aspects of tourism through various channels in both Thailand and English, as well as a web site to encourage community involvement in the planning and management of tourism together with the care and preservation of natural resources and preserving the local cultural tourist area of Kamchanoad.

Keywords: Management and Development Guidelines, Tourist site, Sustainability.

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600 Research on Residential Block Fabric: A Case Study of Hangzhou West Area

Authors: Wang Ye, Wei Wei

Abstract:

Residential block construction of big cities in China began in the 1950s, and four models had far-reaching influence on modern residential block in its development process, including unit compound and residential district in 1950s to 1980s, and gated community and open community in 1990s to now. Based on analysis of the four models’ fabric, the article takes residential blocks in Hangzhou west area as an example and carries on the studies from urban structure level and block spacial level, mainly including urban road network, land use, community function, road organization, public space and building fabric. At last, the article puts forward “Semi-open Sub-community” strategy to improve the current fabric.

Keywords: Hangzhou West Area, residential block model, residential block fabric, “Semi-open Sub-community” strategy.

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599 A Statistical Study on Young UAE Driver’s Behavior towards Road Safety

Authors: Sadia Afroza, Rakiba Rouf

Abstract:

Road safety and associated behaviors have received significant attention in recent years, reflecting general public concern. This paper portrays a statistical scenario of the young drivers in UAE with emphasis on various concern points of young driver’s behavior and license issuance. Although there are many factors contributing to road accidents, statistically it is evident that age plays a major role in road accidents. Despite ensuring strict road safety laws enforced by the UAE government, there is a staggering correlation among road accidents and young driver’s at UAE. However, private organizations like BMW and RoadSafetyUAE have extended its support on conducting surveys on driver’s behavior with an aim to ensure road safety. Various strategies such as road safety law enforcement, license issuance, adapting new technologies like safety cameras and raising awareness can be implemented to improve the road safety concerns among young drivers.

Keywords: Driving behavior, GLDS, road safety, UAE drivers, young drivers.

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598 Heterogeneity-Aware Load Balancing for Multimedia Access over Wireless LAN Hotspots

Authors: Yen-Cheng Chen, Gong-Da Fang

Abstract:

Wireless LAN (WLAN) access in public hotspot areas becomes popular in the recent years. Since more and more multimedia information is available in the Internet, there is an increasing demand for accessing multimedia information through WLAN hotspots. Currently, the bandwidth offered by an IEEE 802.11 WLAN cannot afford many simultaneous real-time video accesses. A possible way to increase the offered bandwidth in a hotspot is the use of multiple access points (APs). However, a mobile station is usually connected to the WLAN AP with the strongest received signal strength indicator (RSSI). The total consumed bandwidth cannot be fairly allocated among those APs. In this paper, we will propose an effective load-balancing scheme via the support of the IAPP and SNMP in APs. The proposed scheme is an open solution and doesn-t need any changes in both wireless stations and APs. This makes load balancing possible in WLAN hotspots, where a variety of heterogeneous mobile devices are employed.

Keywords: Wireless LAN, Load balancing, IAPP, SNMP.

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597 Novelty as a Measure of Interestingness in Knowledge Discovery

Authors: Vasudha Bhatnagar, Ahmed Sultan Al-Hegami, Naveen Kumar

Abstract:

Rule Discovery is an important technique for mining knowledge from large databases. Use of objective measures for discovering interesting rules leads to another data mining problem, although of reduced complexity. Data mining researchers have studied subjective measures of interestingness to reduce the volume of discovered rules to ultimately improve the overall efficiency of KDD process. In this paper we study novelty of the discovered rules as a subjective measure of interestingness. We propose a hybrid approach based on both objective and subjective measures to quantify novelty of the discovered rules in terms of their deviations from the known rules (knowledge). We analyze the types of deviation that can arise between two rules and categorize the discovered rules according to the user specified threshold. We implement the proposed framework and experiment with some public datasets. The experimental results are promising.

Keywords: Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD), Interestingness, Subjective Measures, Novelty Index.

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596 Exploring the Narrative Communication: Representing Visual Information from Digital Travel Stories

Authors: Rocío Abascal-Mena, Erick López-Ornelas

Abstract:

We present the results of a case study aiming to assess the reflection of the tourism community in the Web and its usability to propose new ways to communicate visually. The wealth of information contained in the Web and the clear facilities to communicate personals points of view makes of the social web a new space of exploration. In this way, social web allow the sharing of information between communities with similar interests. However, the tourism community remains unexplored as is the case of the information covered in travel stories. Along the Web, we find multiples sites allowing the users to communicate their experiences and personal points of view of a particular place of the world. This cultural heritage is found in multiple documents, usually very little supplemented with photos, so they are difficult to explore due to the lack of visual information. This paper explores the possibility of analyzing travel stories to display them visually on maps and generate new knowledge such as patterns of travel routes. This way, travel narratives published in electronic formats can be very important especially to the tourism community because of the great amount of knowledge that can be extracted. Our approach is based on the use of a Geoparsing Web Service to extract geographic coordinates from travel narratives in order to draw the geo-positions and link the documents into a map image.

Keywords: Social web, tourism community, visual communication, travel stories, geo references.

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595 A Study on the Developing Method of the BIM (Building Information Modeling) Software Based On Cloud Computing Environment

Authors: Byung-Kon Kim

Abstract:

According as the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) Industry projects have grown more complex and larger, the number of utilization of BIM for 3D design and simulation is increasing significantly. Therefore, typical applications of BIM such as clash detection and alternative measures based on 3-dimenstional planning are expanded to process management, cost and quantity management, structural analysis, check for regulation, and various domains for virtual design and construction. Presently, commercial BIM software is operated on single-user environment, so initial cost is so high and the investment may be wasted frequently. Cloud computing that is a next-generation internet technology enables simple internet devices (such as PC, Tablet, Smart phone etc) to use services and resources of BIM software. In this paper, we suggested developing method of the BIM software based on cloud computing environment in order to expand utilization of BIM and reduce cost of BIM software. First, for the benchmarking, we surveyed successful case of BIM and cloud computing. And we analyzed needs and opportunities of BIM and cloud computing in AEC Industry. Finally, we suggested main functions of BIM software based on cloud computing environment and developed a simple prototype of cloud computing BIM software for basic BIM model viewing.

Keywords: Construction IT, BIM(Building Information Modeling), Cloud Computing, BIM Service Based Cloud Computing, Viewer Based BIM Server, 3D Design.

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594 Demythologization of Female Smokers in Korean Films

Authors: Yoojin Chung

Abstract:

Compare to western cultures, women who smoke in Korea are not tolerated. Korean people are prejudiced against women smoking. In spite of the relative prevalence of sexual equality in South Korea, women too often feel obliged to confine their smoking to only a few public spaces, such as designated smoking rooms, coffee shops or pubs. Korean Confucianism classifies people according to gender and social status. According to Confucian culture, cigarettes convey clear social meanings as well as reinforcing status, age and gender, beyond personal preferences. For these reasons, the significant of people smoking in Korea varies according to their gender. This study will determine reasons for the ongoing sexual discrimination against female Korean smokers thorough analyzing Korean films. Since film is a medium reflects social phenomenon. Roland Barthes- Mythology Theory will be used to analyze films.

Keywords: Korean films, Mythology, Sexual discrimination, Women Smoking

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593 A Case Study on Barriers in Total Productive Maintenance Implementation in the Abu Dhabi Power Industry

Authors: A. Alseiari, P. Farrell

Abstract:

Maintenance has evolved into an imperative function, and contributes significantly to efficient and effective equipment performance. Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is an ideal approach to support the development and implementation of operation performance improvement. It systematically aims to understand the function of equipment, the service quality relationship with equipment and the probable critical equipment failure conditions. Implementation of TPM programmes need strategic planning and there has been little research applied in this area within Middle-East power plants. In the power sector of Abu Dhabi, technologically and strategically, the power industry is extremely important, and it thus needs effective and efficient equipment management support. The aim of this paper is to investigate barriers to successful TPM implementation in the Abu Dhabi power industry. The study has been conducted in the context of a leading power company in the UAE. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 employees, including maintenance and operation staff, and senior managers. The findings of this research identified seven key barriers, thus: managerial; organisational; cultural; financial; educational; communications; and auditing. With respect to the understanding of these barriers and obstacles in TPM implementation, the findings can contribute towards improved equipment operations and maintenance in power organisations.

Keywords: Abu Dhabi power industry, TPM implementation, key barriers, organisational culture, critical success factors.

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592 QoS Improvement Using Intelligent Algorithm under Dynamic Tropical Weather for Earth-Space Satellite Applications

Authors: Joseph S. Ojo, Vincent A. Akpan, Oladayo G. Ajileye, Olalekan L, Ojo

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In this paper, the intelligent algorithm (IA) that is capable of adapting to dynamical tropical weather conditions is proposed based on fuzzy logic techniques. The IA effectively interacts with the quality of service (QoS) criteria irrespective of the dynamic tropical weather to achieve improvement in the satellite links. To achieve this, an adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) has been adopted. The algorithm is capable of interacting with the weather fluctuation to generate appropriate improvement to the satellite QoS for efficient services to the customers. 5-year (2012-2016) rainfall rate of one-minute integration time series data has been used to derive fading based on ITU-R P. 618-12 propagation models. The data are obtained from the measurement undertaken by the Communication Research Group (CRG), Physics Department, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. The rain attenuation and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) were derived for frequency between Ku and V-band and propagation angle with respect to different transmitting power. The simulated results show a substantial reduction in SNR especially for application in the area of digital video broadcast-second generation coding modulation satellite networks.

Keywords: Fuzzy logic, intelligent algorithm, Nigeria, QoS, satellite applications, tropical weather.

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591 The Morphology of Sri Lankan Text Messages

Authors: Chamindi Dilkushi Senaratne

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Communicating via a text or an SMS (Short Message Service) has become an integral part of our daily lives. With the increase in the use of mobile phones, text messaging has become a genre by itself worth researching and studying. It is undoubtedly a major phenomenon revealing language change. This paper attempts to describe the morphological processes of text language of urban bilinguals in Sri Lanka. It will be a typological study based on 500 English text messages collected from urban bilinguals residing in Colombo. The messages are selected by categorizing the deviant forms of language use apparent in text messages. These stylistic deviations are a deliberate skilled performance by the users of the language possessing an in-depth knowledge of linguistic systems to create new words and thereby convey their linguistic identity and individual and group solidarity via the message. The findings of the study solidifies arguments that the manipulation of language in text messages is both creative and appropriate. In addition, code mixing theories will be used to identify how existing morphological processes are adapted by bilingual users in Sri Lanka when texting. The study will reveal processes such as omission, initialism, insertion and alternation in addition to other identified linguistic features in text language. The corpus reveals the most common morphological processes used by Sri Lankan urban bilinguals when sending texts.

Keywords: Bilingual, deviations, morphology, texts.

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590 Kazakhstani Koreans- Conflict of Linguistic Identity: In–between the Sovietized and Kazakhstani Citizens

Authors: Soon-ok Myong, Byong-soon Chun

Abstract:

This paper intends to identify the ethnic Kazakhstani Koreans- political process of identity formation by exploring their narrative and practice about the state language represented in the course of their becoming the new citizens of a new independent state. The Russophone Kazakhstani Koreans- inability to speak the official language of their affiliated state is considered there as dissatisfying the basic requirement of citizens of the independent state, so that they are becoming marginalized from the public sphere. Their contradictory attitude that at once demonstrates nominal reception and practical rejection of the obligatory state language unveils a high barrier inside between their self-language and other-language. In this paper, the ethnic Korean group-s conflicting linguistic identity is not seen as a free and simple choice, but as a dynamic struggle and political process in which the subject-s past experiences and memories intersect with the external elements of pressure.

Keywords: Ethnic Kazakhstani Koreans, Soviet Korean's Russification, Linguistic Identity, Russian-Kazakh Dichotomy.

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589 Patient Perspectives on Telehealth during the Pandemic in the United States

Authors: Manal Sultan Alhussein, Xiang Michelle Liu

Abstract:

Telehealth is an advanced technology using digital information and telecommunication facilities that provide access to health services from a distance. It slows the transmission factor of COVID-19, especially for elderly patients and patients with chronic diseases during the pandemic. Therefore, understanding patient perspectives on telehealth services and the factors impacting their option of telehealth service will shed light on the measures that healthcare providers can take to improve the quality of telehealth services. This study aimed to evaluate perceptions of telehealth services among different patient groups and explore various aspects of telehealth utilization in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey distributed via social media platforms was used to collect research data. In addition to the descriptive statistics, both correlation and regression analyses were conducted to test research hypotheses. The empirical results highlighted that the factors such as accessibility to telehealth services and the type of specialty clinics that the patients required play important roles in the effectiveness of telehealth services they received. However, the results found that patients’ waiting time to receive telehealth services and their annual income did not significantly influence their desire to select receiving healthcare services via telehealth. The limitations of the study and future research directions are discussed.

Keywords: Telehealth, patient satisfaction, pandemic, healthcare, remote patient monitor.

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588 LFC Design of a Deregulated Power System with TCPS Using PSO

Authors: H. Shayeghi, H.A. Shayanfar, A. Jalili

Abstract:

In the LFC problem, the interconnections among some areas are the input of disturbances, and therefore, it is important to suppress the disturbances by the coordination of governor systems. In contrast, tie-line power flow control by TCPS located between two areas makes it possible to stabilize the system frequency oscillations positively through interconnection, which is also expected to provide a new ancillary service for the further power systems. Thus, a control strategy using controlling the phase angle of TCPS is proposed for provide active control facility of system frequency in this paper. Also, the optimum adjustment of PID controller's parameters in a robust way under bilateral contracted scenario following the large step load demands and disturbances with and without TCPS are investigated by Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), that has a strong ability to find the most optimistic results. This newly developed control strategy combines the advantage of PSO and TCPS and has simple stricture that is easy to implement and tune. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy a three-area restructured power system is considered as a test system under different operating conditions and system nonlinearities. Analysis reveals that the TCPS is quite capable of suppressing the frequency and tie-line power oscillations effectively as compared to that obtained without TCPS for a wide range of plant parameter changes, area load demands and disturbances even in the presence of system nonlinearities.

Keywords: LFC, TCPS, Dregulated Power System, PowerSystem Control, PSO.

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587 Awakeness, Awareness and Learning Mathematics for Arab Students: A Pilot Study

Authors: S. Rawashdi, D. Bshouty

Abstract:

This paper aimed at discussing how to urge middle and high school Arab students in Israel to be aware of the importance of and investing in learning mathematics. In the first phase of the study, three questionnaires were passed to two nine-grade classes, one on Awareness, one on Awakeness and one on Learning. One of the two classes was an outstanding class from a public school (PUBS) of 31 students, and the other a heterogeneous class from a private school (PRIS) with 31 students. The Learning questionnaire which was administrated to the Awareness and Awareness topics was passed to PRIS and the Awareness and Awareness Questionnaires were passed to the PUBS class After two months we passed the post-questionnaire to both classes to validate the long-term impact of the study. The findings of the study show that awakeness and awareness processes have an effect on the math learning process, on its context in students' daily lives and their growing interest in learning math.

Keywords: Awakeness, awareness, learning mathematics, pupils.

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586 Governance of Inter-Organizational Research Cooperation

Authors: Guenther Schuh, Sebastian Woelk

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Companies face increasing challenges in research due to higher costs and risks. The intensifying technology complexity and interdisciplinarity require unique know-how. Therefore, companies need to decide whether research shall be conducted internally or externally with partners. On the other hand, research institutes meet increasing efforts to achieve good financing and to maintain high research reputation. Therefore, relevant research topics need to be identified and specialization of competency is necessary. However, additional competences for solving interdisciplinary research projects are also often required. Secured financing can be achieved by bonding industry partners as well as public fundings. The realization of faster and better research drives companies and research institutes to cooperate in organized research networks, which are managed by an administrative organization. For an effective and efficient cooperation, necessary processes, roles, tools and a set of rules need to be determined. Goal of this paper is to show the state-of-art research and to propose a governance framework for organized research networks.

Keywords: Interorganizational cooperation, design of network governance, research network.

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585 Productivity and Performance of Barangays: The Case of the Heritage City of Vigan, Philippines

Authors: Edelyn Alicar-Cadorna

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This study assessed the productivity and performance of the barangays in the Heritage City of Vigan in terms of the barangays- resource requirements, management of resources, produced goods and services, and outcomes of service delivery. The descriptive research design was used in the study employing the input-process-output-outcomes model. Findings of this study showed that the barangays were strong in terms of resource requirements which enabled them to produce goods and services. The barangays were also strong in terms of management of resources in development planning. They also showed great potential along fiscal administration, and had a moderately high capability in organization and management. However, the barangays appeared to be most wanting in the area of barangay legislation, but they were strong in community mobilization and they had strong linkages with POs, NGOs and educational institutions. In the delivery of social services, the barangays favored the maintenance of day care centers. However, the barangays seem to be weak in the delivery of economic services. They fared well along providing protective services such as in establishing a Barangay Disaster Coordinating Council and organizing a group of Barangay Tanod. In terms of environmental services, the barangays performed garbage collection and disposal; however, garbage still found their way in the streets in some barangays. The services delivered had effected an improved status of the barangays. However, the barangays are still facing some problems.

Keywords: Barangays, Performance and Productivity.

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584 Towards a Model of Support in the Areas of Services of Educational Assistance and Tutoring in Middle Education in Mexico

Authors: Margarita Zavala, Julio Rolón, Gabriel Chavira, José González, Jorge Orozco, Roberto Pichardo

Abstract:

Adolescence is a neuralgic stage in the formation of every human being, generally at this stage is when the middle school level is studied. In 2006 in Mexico incorporated “mentoring" space to assist students in their integration and participation in life. In public middle schools, is sometimes difficult to be aware of situations that affect students because of the number of them and traditional records management. Whit this they lose the opportunity to provide timely support as a preventive way. In order to provide this support, it is required to know the students by detecting the relevant information that has greater impact on their learning process. This research is looking to check if it is possible to identify student’s relevant information to detect when it is at risk, and then to propose a model to manage in a proper way such information.

Keywords: Adolescence, mentoring, middle school students, mentoring system support.

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583 Examining the Potential of Linear Parks as Sustainable Development Components

Authors: Andreas Savvides, Chloe Kadi

Abstract:

The objective of this study is to investigate how the planning and design of open parks within neighborhoods and communities can promote physical activity in order to enhance the health of the local population. A review of relevant literature was conducted for studies regarding the relationship between health and physical activity and the park characteristics that can promote physical activity among people. The findings of the literature review were then compared and analyzed, in order to identify the main characteristics of urban parks that can promote physical activity and enhance public health. In order to find out how the characteristics identified in the literature were applied in real life, an analysis of three existing parks in three different countries was conducted. The parks, apart from their geographical location, also vary in size and layout. The parks were chosen because they are urban open parks and they include facilities for physical activity.

Keywords: Urban planning, active living behavior, open parks, sustainable mobility.

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582 The Fuel Consumption and Non Linear Model Metropolitan and Large City Transportation System

Authors: Mudjiastuti Handajani

Abstract:

The national economy development affects the vehicle ownership which ultimately increases fuel consumption. The rise of the vehicle ownership is dominated by the increasing number of motorcycles. This research aims to analyze and identify the characteristics of fuel consumption, the city transportation system, and to analyze the relationship and the effect of the city transportation system on the fuel consumption. A multivariable analysis is used in this study. The data analysis techniques include: a Multivariate Multivariable Analysis by using the R software. More than 84% of fuel on Java is consumed in metropolitan and large cities. The city transportation system variables that strongly effect the fuel consumption are population, public vehicles, private vehicles and private bus. This method can be developed to control the fuel consumption by considering the urban transport system and city tipology. The effect can reducing subsidy on the fuel consumption, increasing state economic.

Keywords: city, consumption, fuel, transportation

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581 Biological Soil Conservation Planning by Spatial Multi-Criteria Evaluation Techniques (Case Study: Bonkuh Watershed in Iran)

Authors: Ali Akbar Jamali

Abstract:

This paper discusses site selection process for biological soil conservation planning. It was supported by a valuefocused approach and spatial multi-criteria evaluation techniques. A first set of spatial criteria was used to design a number of potential sites. Next, a new set of spatial and non-spatial criteria was employed, including the natural factors and the financial costs, together with the degree of suitability for the Bonkuh watershed to biological soil conservation planning and to recommend the most acceptable program. The whole process was facilitated by a new software tool that supports spatial multiple criteria evaluation, or SMCE in GIS software (ILWIS). The application of this tool, combined with a continual feedback by the public attentions, has provided an effective methodology to solve complex decisional problem in biological soil conservation planning.

Keywords: GIS, Biological soil conservation planning, Spatial multi-criteria evaluation, Iran

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580 Modeling Bessel Beams and Their Discrete Superpositions from the Generalized Lorenz-Mie Theory to Calculate Optical Forces over Spherical Dielectric Particles

Authors: Leonardo A. Ambrosio, Carlos. H. Silva Santos, Ivan E. L. Rodrigues, Ayumi K. de Campos, Leandro A. Machado

Abstract:

In this work, we propose an algorithm developed under Python language for the modeling of ordinary scalar Bessel beams and their discrete superpositions and subsequent calculation of optical forces exerted over dielectric spherical particles. The mathematical formalism, based on the generalized Lorenz-Mie theory, is implemented in Python for its large number of free mathematical (as SciPy and NumPy), data visualization (Matplotlib and PyJamas) and multiprocessing libraries. We also propose an approach, provided by a synchronized Software as Service (SaaS) in cloud computing, to develop a user interface embedded on a mobile application, thus providing users with the necessary means to easily introduce desired unknowns and parameters and see the graphical outcomes of the simulations right at their mobile devices. Initially proposed as a free Android-based application, such an App enables data post-processing in cloud-based architectures and visualization of results, figures and numerical tables.

Keywords: Bessel Beams and Frozen Waves, Generalized Lorenz-Mie Theory, Numerical Methods, Optical Forces.

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579 Characterization of Complex Electromagnetic Environment Created by Multiple Sources of Electromagnetic Radiation

Authors: C. Temaneh-Nyah, J. Makiche, J. Nujoma

Abstract:

This paper considers the characterization of a complex electromagnetic environment due to multiple sources of electromagnetic radiation as a five-dimensional surface which can be described by a set of several surface sections including: instant EM field intensity distribution maps at a given frequency and altitude, instantaneous spectrum at a given location in space and the time evolution of the electromagnetic field spectrum at a given point in space. This characterization if done over time can enable the exposure levels of Radio Frequency Radiation at every point in the analysis area to be determined and results interpreted based on comparison of the determined RFR exposure level with the safe guidelines for general public exposure given by recognized body such as the International commission on non-ionizing radiation protection (ICNIRP), Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), the National Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA).

Keywords: Electromagnetic Environment, Electric Field Strength, Mathematical Models.

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578 Speech Acts and Politeness Strategies in an EFL Classroom in Georgia

Authors: Tinatin Kurdghelashvili

Abstract:

The paper deals with the usage of speech acts and politeness strategies in an EFL classroom in Georgia (Rep of). It explores the students’ and the teachers’ practice of the politeness strategies and the speech acts of apology, thanking, request, compliment / encouragement, command, agreeing / disagreeing, addressing and code switching. The research method includes observation as well as a questionnaire. The target group involves the students from Georgian public schools and two certified, experienced local English teachers. The analysis is based on Searle’s Speech Act Theory and Brown and Levinson’s politeness strategies. The findings show that the students have certain knowledge regarding politeness yet they fail to apply them in English communication. In addition, most of the speech acts from the classroom interaction are used by the teachers and not the students. Thereby, it is suggested that teachers should cultivate the students’ communicative competence and attempt to give them opportunities to practise more English speech acts than they do today.

Keywords: English as a foreign language, Georgia, politeness principles, speech acts.

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577 Legal Knowledge of Legislated Employment Rights: An Empirical Study

Authors: Hapriza Ashari, Nik Ahmad Kamal Nik Mahmod

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This article aims to assess the level of basic knowledge of statutory employment rights at the workplace as prescribed by the Malaysian Employment Act 1955. The statutory employment rights comprises of a variety of individual employment rights such as protections of wages, statutory right to the general standard of working time, statutory right to rest day, public holidays, annual leave and sick leave as well as female employee’s statutory right to paid maternity leave. A field survey was carried out to collect data by using self-administered questionnaires from Human Resource (HR) practitioners in the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The results reveal that the level of basic knowledge of legislated employment rights varies between different types of statutory rights from high level to low level.

Keywords: Employment legislation, Human Resource (HR) practitioner, legal knowledge, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

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576 Employees’ Perception Analysis towards Leadership Effectiveness Competencies in Indian Manufacturing Industries

Authors: Sandhya, Rajbir Singh, Ramesh Kumar

Abstract:

The purpose of this research paper on the subject of Leadership Effectiveness attempts to conduct a focused amount of research to examine the employees’ perceptions pertaining to specific competencies of leadership effectiveness in Indian manufacturing industries and to correlate their perceptions between private sectors and public sector undertakings. It specifically looks at the current definitions of leadership and looks at some historical background information relating to the more common theories that relate to leadership and effectiveness. This research was conducted by using a variety of current books and periodical articles on the topic of leadership effectiveness and employees’ perceptions. A number of leadership effectiveness competencies have been identified. The demographic details and perception of the employees on importance of leadership effectiveness competencies have been obtained through a well designed online questionnaire. For this purpose, a likert scale of seven-point has been used. Descriptive and inferential statistics is used to analyze the gathered data.

Keywords: Employees Perception, Leadership Effectiveness, Leadership Competencies, Manufacturing.

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575 Academic Digital Library's Evaluation Criteria: User-Centered Approach

Authors: Razilan A. Kadir, Wan A. K. W. Dollah, Fatimah A. Saaid, S. Diljit

Abstract:

Academic digital libraries emerged as a result of advances in computing and information systems technologies, and had been introduced in universities and to public. As results, moving in parallel with current technology in learning and researching environment indeed offers myriad of advantages especially to students and academicians, as well as researchers. This is due to dramatic changes in learning environment through the use of digital library system which giving spectacular impact on these societies- way of performing their study/research. This paper presents a survey of current criteria for evaluating academic digital libraries- performance. The goal is to discuss criteria being applied so far for academic digital libraries evaluation in the context of user-centered design. Although this paper does not comprehensively take into account all previous researches in evaluating academic digital libraries but at least it can be a guide in understanding the evaluation criteria being widely applied.

Keywords: Academic digital libraries, evaluation criteria, performance, user-centered.

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574 Sustainability Assessment of Municipal Wastewater Treatment

Authors: Yousra Zakaria Ahmed, Ahmed El Gendy, Salah El Haggar

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In this paper, our methodology to assess sustainability of wastewater treatment technologies in Egypt is presented. The preliminary list of factors to be considered, as well as their ranking listed. The factors include, but are not limited to pollutants removal efficiency and energy consumption under the environmental dimension, construction cost, operation and maintenance costs and required land area cost under the economic dimension and public acceptance, noise and generating job opportunities for local residents. This methodology is intended to be a user-friendly screening tool to support the decision making process when investigating different wastewater treatment technologies in Egypt. Based on the research work results presented in this paper, it can be generally concluded that the categorization of some of the social and environmental aspects of sustainability is subjective and highly dependent on the local conditions and researchers’ background.

Keywords: Sustainability, wastewater treatment, sustainability assessment, Egypt.

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573 A Strategy for Scaling-Up Vitamin A Supplementation in a Remote Rural Setting

Authors: Wisdom G. Dube, Talent Makoni, Tasiana K. Nyadzayo, Namukolo M. Covic

Abstract:

Vitamin A deficiency is a public health problem in Zimbabwe. Addressing vitamin A deficiency has the potential of enhancing resistance to disease and reducing mortality especially in children less than 5 years. We implemented and adapted vitamin A outreach supplementation strategy within the National Immunization Days and Extended Programme of Immunization in a rural district in Zimbabwe. Despite usual operational challenges faced this approach enabled the district to increase delivery of supplementation coverage. This paper describes the outreach strategy that was implemented in the remote rural district. The strategy covered 63 outreach sites with 2 sites being covered per day and visited once per month for the whole year. Coverage reached 71% in an area of previous coverage rates of around less than 50%. We recommend further exploration of this strategy by others working in similar circumstances. This strategy can be a potential way for use by Scaling-Up-Nutrition member states.

Keywords: Coverage, Strategy, Supplementation, Vitamin A.

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572 Technology, Organizational and Environmental Determinants of Business Intelligence Systems Adoption in Croatian SME: A Case Study of Medium-Sized Enterprise

Authors: Ana-Marija Stjepić, Luka Sušac, Dalia Suša Vugec

Abstract:

In the last few years, examples from scientific literature and business practices show that the adoption of technological innovations increases enterprises' performance. Recently, when it comes to the field of information technology innovation, business intelligence systems (BISs) have drawn a significant amount of attention of the scientific circles. BISs can be understood as a form of technological innovation which can bring certain benefits to the organizations that are adopting it. Therefore, the aim of this paper is twofold: (1) to define determinants of successful BISs adoption in small and medium enterprises and thus contribute to this neglected research area and (2) to present the current state of BISs adoption in small and medium-sized companies. In order to do so, determinants are defined and classified into three dimensions, according to the Technology – Organization – Environment (TOE) theoretical framework that describes the impact of each dimension on technological innovations adoption. Moreover, paper brings a case study presenting the adoption of BISs in practice within an organization from tertiary (service) industry sector. Based on the results of the study, guidelines for more efficient, faster and easier BISs adoption are presented.

Keywords: Adoption, business intelligence, business intelligence systems, case study, TOE framework.

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