Search results for: quality performance measurement

Authors: Ngozi Nwogu, Mohammed Kajama, Edward Gobina

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Atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions are considered as the greatest environmental challenge the world is facing today. The tasks to control the emissions include the recovery of CO2 from flue gas. This concern has been improved due to recent advances in materials process engineering resulting in the development of inorganic gas separation membranes with excellent thermal and mechanical stability required for most gas separations. This paper, therefore, evaluates the performance of a highly selective inorganic membrane for CO2 recovery applications. Analysis of results obtained is in agreement with experimental literature data. Further results show the prediction performance of the membranes for gas separation and the future direction of research. The materials selection and the membrane preparation techniques are discussed. Method of improving the interface defects in the membrane and its effect on the separation performance has also been reviewed and in addition advances to totally exploit the potential usage of this innovative membrane.

Keywords: Carbon dioxide, gas separation, inorganic ceramic membrane & perm selectivity.

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Authors: M. Haghighi, M. Zowghi, B. Zohouri

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Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is an expounded, multi-step planning method for delivering commodity, services, and processes to customers, both external and internal to an organization. It is a way to convert between the diverse customer languages expressing demands (Voice of the Customer), and the organization-s languages expressing results that sate those demands. The policy is to establish one or more matrices that inter-relate producer and consumer reciprocal expectations. Due to its visual presence is called the “House of Quality" (HOQ). In this paper, we assumed HOQ in multi attribute decision making (MADM) pattern and through a proposed MADM method, rank technical specifications. Thereafter compute satisfaction degree of customer requirements and for it, we apply vagueness and uncertainty conditions in decision making by fuzzy set theory. This approach would propound supervised neural network (perceptron) for MADM problem solving.

Keywords: MADM, fuzzy set, QFD, supervised neural network (perceptron).

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Authors: Jung Hyun Kim, Min Ye Ku, Gyo Woo Lee

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In this experiment, we investigated the performance of two types of heat sink, swaged- and extruded-type, used in the inverter of industrial electricity generator. The swaged-type heat sink has 62 fins, and the extruded-type has 38 fins having the same dimension as that of the swaged-type. But the extruded-type heat sink maintains the same heat transfer area by the laterally waved surface which has 1 mm in radius. As a result, the swaged- and extruded-type heat sinks released 71% and 64% of the heat incoming to the heat sink, respectively. The other incoming heat were naturally convected and radiated to the ambient. In spite of 40% decrease in number of fins, the heat release performance of the extruded-type heat sink was lowered only 7% than that of the swaged-type. We believe that, this shows the increment of effective heat transfer area by the laterally waved surface of fins and the better heat transfer property of the extruded-type heat sink.

Keywords: Solar Inverter, Heat Sink, Forced Convection, Heat Transfer, Performance Evaluation.

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Authors: Sumathi Poobal, G. Ravindran

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Image compression is one of the most important applications Digital Image Processing. Advanced medical imaging requires storage of large quantities of digitized clinical data. Due to the constrained bandwidth and storage capacity, however, a medical image must be compressed before transmission and storage. There are two types of compression methods, lossless and lossy. In Lossless compression method the original image is retrieved without any distortion. In lossy compression method, the reconstructed images contain some distortion. Direct Cosine Transform (DCT) and Fractal Image Compression (FIC) are types of lossy compression methods. This work shows that lossy compression methods can be chosen for medical image compression without significant degradation of the image quality. In this work DCT and Fractal Compression using Partitioned Iterated Function Systems (PIFS) are applied on different modalities of images like CT Scan, Ultrasound, Angiogram, X-ray and mammogram. Approximately 20 images are considered in each modality and the average values of compression ratio and Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) are computed and studied. The quality of the reconstructed image is arrived by the PSNR values. Based on the results it can be concluded that the DCT has higher PSNR values and FIC has higher compression ratio. Hence in medical image compression, DCT can be used wherever picture quality is preferred and FIC is used wherever compression of images for storage and transmission is the priority, without loosing picture quality diagnostically.

Keywords: DCT, FIC, PIFS, PSNR.

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Authors: A. Radzevičius, P. Viškelis, J. Viškelis, R. Bobinaitė, R. Karklelienė, D. Juškevičienė

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Two cultivars ('Rutuliai', 'Saint Perrie') and five hybrids ('Tolstoi', 'Brooklyn', 'Tocayo', 'Benito', 'Tourist') of edible tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) were investigated at the LRCAF Institute of Horticulture. The following fruit quality parameters were evaluated: the amount of lycopene, β-carotene, ascorbic acid, total and inverted sugar, sucrose, dry matter soluble solids in fresh tomato matter, also were determined fruit skin and flesh firmness, color indexes (CIE L*a*b*) and calculated hue angle (h°) with chroma (C).

Keywords: Carotenoids, cultivar, nutrition, tomato.

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Authors: Alexander Y. Vaninsky

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Environmental performance of the U.S. States is investigated for the period of 1990 – 2007 using Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). The SFA accounts for both efficiency measure and stochastic noise affecting a frontier. The frontier is formed using indicators of GDP, energy consumption, population, and CO2 emissions. For comparability, all indicators are expressed as ratios to total. Statistical information of the Energy Information Agency of the United States is used. Obtained results reveal the bell - shaped dynamics of environmental efficiency scores. The average efficiency scores rise from 97.6% in 1990 to 99.6% in 1999, and then fall to 98.4% in 2007. The main factor is insufficient decrease in the rate of growth of CO2 emissions with regards to the growth of GDP, population and energy consumption. Data for 2008 following the research period allow for an assumption that the environmental performance of the U.S. States has improved in the last years.

Keywords: Stochastic frontier analysis, environmental performance, interstate comparisons.

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Authors: Justus S, K Iyakutti

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Object Relational Databases (ORDB) are complex in nature than traditional relational databases because they combine the characteristics of both object oriented concepts and relational features of conventional databases. Design of an ORDB demands efficient and quality schema considering the structural, functional and componential traits. This internal quality of the schema is assured by metrics that measure the relevant attributes. This is extended to substantiate the understandability, usability and reliability of the schema, thus assuring external quality of the schema. This work institutes a formalization of ORDB metrics; metric definition, evaluation methodology and the calibration of the metric. Three ORDB schemas were used to conduct the evaluation and the formalization of the metrics. The metrics are calibrated using content and criteria related validity based on the measurability, consistency and reliability of the metrics. Nominal and summative scales are derived based on the evaluated metric values and are standardized. Future works pertaining to ORDB metrics forms the concluding note.

Keywords: Measurements, Product metrics, Metrics calibration, Object-relational database.

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Authors: B. S. Yew , B. L. Ong , R. B. Ahmad

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This paper describes the performance of TCP Vegas over the wireless IPv6 network. The performance of TCP Vegas is evaluated using network simulator (ns-2). The simulation experiment investigates how packet spacing affects the network delay, network throughput and network efficiency of TCP Vegas. Moreover, we investigate how the variable FTP packet sizes affect the network performance. The result of the simulation experiment shows that as the packet spacing is implements, the network delay is reduces, network throughput and network efficiency is optimizes. As the FTP packet sizes increase, the ratio of delay per throughput decreases. From the result of experiment, we propose the appropriate packet size in transmitting file transfer protocol application using TCP Vegas with packet spacing enhancement over wireless IPv6 environment in ns-2. Additionally, we suggest the appropriate ratio in determining the appropriate RTT and buffer size in a network.

Keywords: TCP Vegas, Packet Spacing, Packet Size, Wireless IPv6, ns-2

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Authors: D. I. De Souza, G. P. Azevedo, R. Rocha

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The State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will hold two important events in the nearby future. In 2014 it will have the final game of the Football World Cup, and in 2016 it will be holding the Olympic Games. Therefore, the public transportation system (mainly buses) is of a major concern to the Rio de Janeiro State authorities-. The main objective of this work is to compare the quality of service of the bus companies operating in the cities of ItaperunaandCampos, both cities situated in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The outcome of thiscomparison, based on the opinion of the bus users, has shownthemdispleased with the quality of the service provided by the bus companies operating in both cities. It is urgent the need to find possible practical alternatives to minimize the consequences of the main problems detected in this work. With these practical alternatives available, we will be able to offer to the Rio de Janeiro State authorities- suggestions about possible solutions to the main problems identified in this survey, as well as the time of implantation and costs of these solutions.

Keywords: Public Transportation, Quality of Service, Riders' Opinion, Bus Companies, Practical Alternatives.

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Authors: Hui-Ling Huang, Yue-Yang Chen, Ming-Chi Tsai, Cheng-Jiun Lee

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Recently, a great number of theoretical frameworks have been proposed to develop the linkages between knowledge management (KM) and organizational strategies. However, while there has been much theorizing and case study in the area, validated research models integrating KM and information technology strategies for empirical testing of these theories have been scarce. In this research, we try to develop a research model for explaining the relationship between KM strategy and IT strategy and their effects on performance. Finally, meaningful propositions and conclusions are derived, and suggestions for future research are proposed and discussed.

Keywords: Knowledge management strategy, information technology strategy, knowledge management performance, information technology performance

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Authors: Haroun A.K. Shahad, Nabeel Abdul-Hadi

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Experiments were carried out to evaluate the influence of the addition of hydrogen to the inlet air on the performance of a single cylinder direct injection diesel engine. Hydrogen was injected in the inlet manifold. The addition of hydrogen was done on energy replacement basis. It was found that the addition of hydrogen improves the combustion process due to superior combustion characteristics of hydrogen in comparison to conventional diesel fuels. It was also found that 10% energy replacement improves the engine thermal efficiency by about 40% and reduces the sfc by about 35% however the volumetric efficiency was reduced by about 35%.

Keywords: Hydrogen, Blended fuel, Manifold injection , Performance , Combustion

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Authors: Ibrahim Naeimifar, Omid Naeemifar

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Evaluation of the excavation-induced ground movements is an important design aspect of support systems in urban areas. Geological and geotechnical conditions of an excavation area have significant effects on excavation-induced ground movements and the related damage. This paper is aimed at studying the performance of excavation walls supported by nails in jointed rock medium. The performance of nailed walls is investigated based on evaluating the excavation-induced ground movements. For this purpose, a set of calibrated 2D finite element models are developed by taking into account the nail-rock-structure interactions, the anisotropic properties of jointed rock, and the staged construction process. The results of this paper highlight effects of different parameters such as joint inclinations, anisotropy of rocks and nail inclinations on deformation parameters of excavation wall supported by nails.

Keywords: Finite element, jointed rock, nailing, performance.

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Authors: B. Selma, S. Chouraqui

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Nonlinear system identification is becoming an important tool which can be used to improve control performance. This paper describes the application of adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) model for controlling a car. The vehicle must follow a predefined path by supervised learning. Backpropagation gradient descent method was performed to train the ANFIS system. The performance of the ANFIS model was evaluated in terms of training performance and classification accuracies and the results confirmed that the proposed ANFIS model has potential in controlling the non linear system.

Keywords: Adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), Fuzzy logic, neural network, nonlinear system, control

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Authors: S. Bouhouche, M. Lahreche, S. Ziani, J. Bast

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Modern manufacturing facilities are large scale, highly complex, and operate with large number of variables under closed loop control. Early and accurate fault detection and diagnosis for these plants can minimise down time, increase the safety of plant operations, and reduce manufacturing costs. Fault detection and isolation is more complex particularly in the case of the faulty analog control systems. Analog control systems are not equipped with monitoring function where the process parameters are continually visualised. In this situation, It is very difficult to find the relationship between the fault importance and its consequences on the product failure. We consider in this paper an approach to fault detection and analysis of its effect on the production quality using an adaptive centring and scaling in the pickling process in cold rolling. The fault appeared on one of the power unit driving a rotary machine, this machine can not track a reference speed given by another machine. The length of metal loop is then in continuous oscillation, this affects the product quality. Using a computerised data acquisition system, the main machine parameters have been monitored. The fault has been detected and isolated on basis of analysis of monitored data. Normal and faulty situation have been obtained by an artificial neural network (ANN) model which is implemented to simulate the normal and faulty status of rotary machine. Correlation between the product quality defined by an index and the residual is used to quality classification.

Keywords: Modeling, fault detection and diagnosis, parameters estimation, neural networks, Fault Detection and Diagnosis (FDD), pickling process.

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Authors: S. Hasan, I. Beshara

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Infrastructure maintenance is a great challenge facing sustainable development of infrastructure assets due to the high cost of passive implementation of a sustainable maintenance plan. An assessment model of sustainable maintenance for highway infrastructure projects in Egypt is developed in this paper. It helps in improving the implementation of sustainable maintenance criteria. Thus, this paper has applied the analytical hierarchy processes (AHP) to rank and explore the weight of 26 assessment indicators using three hierarchy levels containing the main sustainable categories and subcategories with related indicators. Overall combined weight of each indicator for sustainable maintenance evaluation has been calculated to sum up to a sustainable maintenance performance index (SMI). The results show that the factor "Preventive maintenance cost" has the highest relative contribution factor among others (13.5%), while two factors of environmental performance have the least weights (0.7%). The developed model aims to provide decision makers with information about current maintenance performance and support them in the decision-making process regarding future directions of maintenance activities. It can be used as an assessment performance tool during the operation and maintenance stage. The developed indicators can be considered during designing the maintenance plan. Practices for successful implementation of the model are also presented.

Keywords: Analytical Hierarchy Process, AHP, assessment performance model, KPIs for sustainable maintenance, sustainable maintenance index.

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Authors: Vincent A. Adzika, Franklin N. Glozah, Collins S. K. Ahorlu

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Background: Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is of major public-health concern globally, with majority of patients living in Africa. Despite its relevance, there is a dearth of research to determine the socio-demographic distribution and psychosocial impact of SCD in Africa. The objective of this study therefore was to examine the socio-demographic distribution and psychosocial consequences of SCD among patients in Ghana and to assess their quality of life and coping mechanisms. Methods: A cross-sectional research design was used, involving the completion of questionnaires on socio-demographic characteristics, quality of life of individuals, anxiety and depression. Participants were 387 male and female patients attending a sickle cell clinic in a public hospital. Results: Results showed no gender and marital status differences in anxiety and depression. However, there were age and level of education variances in depression but not in anxiety. In terms of quality of life, patients were more satisfied by the presence of love, friends, relatives as well as home, community and neighbourhood environment. While pains of varied nature and severity were the major reasons for attending hospital in SCD condition, going to the hospital as well as having Faith in God was the frequently reported mechanisms for coping with an unbearable SCD attacks. Multiple regression analysis showed that some socio-demographic and quality of life indicators had strong associations with anxiety and/or depression. Conclusion: It is recommended that a multi-dimensional intervention strategy incorporating psychosocial dimensions should be considered in the treatment and management of SCD.

Keywords: Sickle cell disease, quality of life, anxiety, depression, socio-demographic characteristics, Ghana.

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Authors: Hasnida Abdul Wahab, Shahrina Md Nordin, Lai Fong Woon, Hasrina Mustafa

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There has been a growing emphasis in communication management from simple coordination of promotional tools to a complex strategic process. This study will examine the current marketing communications and engagement strategies used in addressing the key stakeholders. In the case of fertilizer industry in Malaysia, there has been little empirical research on stakeholder communication when major challenges facing the modern corporation is the need to communicate its identity, its values and products in order to distinguish itself from competitors. The study will employ both quantitative and qualitative methods and the use of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to establish a causal relationship amongst the key factors of stakeholder communication strategies and increment in consumers- choice/acceptance and impact on financial performance. One of the major contributions is a conceptual framework for communication strategies and engagement in increasing consumers- acceptance level and the firm-s financial performance.

Keywords: Consumers' acceptance, financial performance, stakeholder communication strategies.

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Authors: Tristan O’Neill, Trina Myers, Jarrod Trevathan

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The Tropical Data Hub (TDH) is a virtual research environment that provides researchers with an e-research infrastructure to congregate significant tropical data sets for data reuse, integration, searching, and correlation. However, researchers often require data and metadata synthesis across disciplines for cross-domain analyses and knowledge discovery. A triplestore offers a semantic layer to achieve a more intelligent method of search to support the synthesis requirements by automating latent linkages in the data and metadata. Presently, the benchmarks to aid the decision of which triplestore is best suited for use in an application environment like the TDH are limited to performance. This paper describes a new evaluation tool developed to analyze both features and performance. The tool comprises a weighted decision matrix to evaluate the interoperability, functionality, performance, and support availability of a range of integrated and native triplestores to rank them according to requirements of the TDH.

Keywords: Virtual research environment, Semantic Web, performance analysis, tropical data hub.

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Authors: Yongzhong Wu, Ping Ji

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This paper proposes a genetic algorithm based on a new replacement strategy to solve the quadratic assignment problems, which are NP-hard. The new replacement strategy aims to improve the performance of the genetic algorithm through well balancing the convergence of the searching process and the diversity of the population. In order to test the performance of the algorithm, the instances in QAPLIB, a quadratic assignment problem library, are tried and the results are compared with those reported in the literature. The performance of the genetic algorithm is promising. The significance is that this genetic algorithm is generic. It does not rely on problem-specific genetic operators, and may be easily applied to various types of combinatorial problems.

Keywords: Quadratic assignment problem, Genetic algorithm, Replacement strategy, QAPLIB.

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Authors: Rattanathip Rattanachai, Kunyanuth Kularbphettong

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This paper describes the development of a Vegetation Searching System based on Web Application in case of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. The model was developed by PHP, JavaScript and MySQL database system and it was designed to support searching for endemic and rare species of trees on Web site. We describe the design methods and functional components of this prototype. To evaluate the system performance, questionnaires for the system usability and Black Box Testing were used to measure expert and user satisfaction. The results were satisfactory as followed: Means for experts and users were 4.30 and 4.50, and standard deviation for experts and users were 0.61and 0.73 respectively. Further analysis showed that the quality of the plant searching Website was also at a good level as well.

Keywords: Endemic species, Vegetation, Web based System, and Black Box Testing.

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Authors: Frank Emmert-Streib, Matthias Dehmer

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Inferring the network structure from time series data is a hard problem, especially if the time series is short and noisy. DNA microarray is a technology allowing to monitor the mRNA concentration of thousands of genes simultaneously that produces data of these characteristics. In this study we try to investigate the influence of the experimental design on the quality of the result. More precisely, we investigate the influence of two different types of random single gene perturbations on the inference of genetic networks from time series data. To obtain an objective quality measure for this influence we simulate gene expression values with a biologically plausible model of a known network structure. Within this framework we study the influence of single gene knock-outs in opposite to linearly controlled expression for single genes on the quality of the infered network structure.

Keywords: Dynamic Bayesian networks, microarray data, structure learning, Markov chain Monte Carlo.

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Authors: Kee-Young Kwahk

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Previous studies have indicated that one of the most critical failure reasons of enterprise systems is the lack of knowledge sharing and utilization across organizations. As a consequence, many information systems researchers have paid attention to examining the effect of absorptive capacity closely associated with knowledge sharing and transferring on IS usage performance. A lack of communications and interactions due to a lack of organizational citizenship behavior might lead to weak absorptive capacity and thus negatively influence knowledge sharing across organizations. In this study, a theoretical model which delves into the relationship between usage performance of enterprise systems and its determinants was established.

Keywords: Usage performance of information systems, Social exchanges, Enterprise systems.

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Authors: Zenon Chaczko, Essam Rahali, Rizwan Tariq

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This paper introduces a process for the module level integration of computer based systems. It is based on the Six Sigma Process Improvement Model, where the goal of the process is to improve the overall quality of the system under development. We also present a conceptual framework that shows how this process can be implemented as an integration solution. Finally, we provide a partial implementation of key components in the conceptual framework.

Keywords: Software Quality, Six Sigma, System Integration, 3SI Process, 3SI Conceptual Framework.

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Authors: Kornchanok Chidchaisuwan

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This project is a study of learning activities of creating experience from actual work performance to enhance career skills and technological usage abilities for uses in advertising career work performance for undergraduate students who enroll in the Creative Strategies for Advertising Course. The instructional model consisted of two learning approaches: (1) simulation-based learning, which is the learning with the use of simulations of working in various sections of creative advertisement work with their own work process and steps as well as the virtual technology learning in advertising companies; and (2) project-based learning, which is the learning that the learners engage in actual work performance based on the process of creating and producing creative advertisement works to be present on new media channels. The results of learning management showed that the effects on the students in various aspects were as follows: (1) the students had experience in the advertising process at the higher level; and (2) the students had work performance skills from the actual work performance that enabled them to possess the abilities to create and present their own work; also, they had created more efficient work outcomes and disseminated them on new media channels at a better level.

Keywords: Technical literacy, career skill, experience, simulation-based learning.

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Authors: K. Chethana, A. S. Guru Prasad, S. N. Omkar, B. Vadiraj, S. Asokan

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This paper describes an ab-initio design, development and calibration results of an Optical Sensor Ground Reaction Force Measurement Platform (OSGRFP) for gait and geriatric studies. The developed system employs an array of FBG sensors to measure the respective ground reaction forces from all three axes (X, Y and Z), which are perpendicular to each other. The novelty of this work is two folded. One is in its uniqueness to resolve the tri axial resultant forces during the stance in to the respective pure axis loads and the other is the applicability of inherently advantageous FBG sensors which are most suitable for biomechanical instrumentation. To validate the response of the FBG sensors installed in OSGRFP and to measure the cross sensitivity of the force applied in other directions, load sensors with indicators are used. Further in this work, relevant mathematical formulations are presented for extracting respective ground reaction forces from wavelength shifts/strain of FBG sensors on the OSGRFP. The result of this device has implications in understanding the foot function, identifying issues in gait cycle and measuring discrepancies between left and right foot. The device also provides a method to quantify and compare relative postural stability of different subjects under test, which has implications in post-surgical rehabilitation, geriatrics and optimizing training protocols for sports personnel.

Keywords: Balance, stability, Gait analysis, FBG applications, optical sensor ground reaction force platform.

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Authors: Sharifah Sumayyah Engku Alwi, Masrah Azrifah Azmi Murad

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The development of the information technology and Internet has been transforming the healthcare industry. The internet is continuously accessed to seek for health information and there are variety of sources, including search engines, health websites, and social networking sites. Providing more and better information on health may empower individuals, however, ensuring a high quality and trusted health information could pose a challenge. Moreover, there is an ever-increasing amount of information available, but they are not necessarily accurate and up to date. Thus, this paper aims to provide an insight of the models and frameworks related to online health information seeking of consumers. It begins by exploring the definition of information behavior and information seeking to provide a better understanding of the concept of information seeking. In this study, critical factors such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence will be studied in relation to the value of seeking health information. It also aims to analyze the effect of age, gender, and health status as the moderator on the factors that influence online health information seeking, i.e. trust and information quality. A preliminary survey will be carried out among the health professionals to clarify the research problems which exist in the real world, at the same time producing a conceptual framework. A final survey will be distributed to five states of Malaysia, to solicit the feedback on the framework. Data will be analyzed using SPSS and SmartPLS 3.0 analysis tools. It is hoped that at the end of this study, a novel framework that can improve online health information seeking is developed. Finally, this paper concludes with some suggestions on the models and frameworks that could improve online health information seeking.

Keywords: Information behavior, information seeking, online health information, technology acceptance model, the theory of planned behavior, UTAUT.

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Authors: M. E. Silva, I. Brás

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The aim of this work was to study the viability of recycling the residual yeast and diatomaceous earth (RYDE) slurry generated by the beer brewing industry by composting with animal manures, as well as to evaluate the quality of the composts obtained. Two pilot composting trials were carried out with different mixes: cow manure/RYDE slurry (Pile CM) and sheep manure/RYDE slurry (Pile SM). For all piles, wood chips were applied as bulking agent. The process was monitored by evaluating standard physical and chemical parameters. The compost quality was assessed by the heavy metals content and phytotoxicity. Both piles reached a thermophilic phase in the first day, however having different trends. The pH showed a slight alkaline character. The C/N reached values lower than 19 at the end of composting process. Generally, all the piles exhibited absence of heavy metals. However, the pile SM exhibited phytotoxicity. This study showed that RYDE slurry can be valorized by composting with cow manure.

Keywords: Beer brewing wastes, compost; quality, valorization.

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Authors: Maged Ahmed, Ahmed El-Mahdy

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In this paper, Selective Adaptive Parallel Interference Cancellation (SA-PIC) technique is presented for Multicarrier Direct Sequence Code Division Multiple Access (MC DS-CDMA) scheme. The motivation of using SA-PIC is that it gives high performance and at the same time, reduces the computational complexity required to perform interference cancellation. An upper bound expression of the bit error rate (BER) for the SA-PIC under Rayleigh fading channel condition is derived. Moreover, the implementation complexities for SA-PIC and Adaptive Parallel Interference Cancellation (APIC) are discussed and compared. The performance of SA-PIC is investigated analytically and validated via computer simulations.

Keywords: Adaptive interference cancellation, communicationsystems, multicarrier signal processing, spread spectrum

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Authors: Umair Baig, Kohei Nagai

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At highly congested reinforcement regions, which is common at beam-column joint area, clear spacing between parallel bars becomes less than maximum normal aggregate size (20mm) which has not been addressed in any design code and specifications. Limited clear spacing between parallel bars (herein after thin cover) is one of the causes which affect anchorage performance. In this study, an experimental investigation was carried out to understand anchorage performance of reinforcement in Self-Compacting Concrete (SCC) and Normal Concrete (NC) at highly congested regions under uni-axial tensile loading.  Column bar was pullout whereas; beam bars were offset from column reinforcement creating thin cover as per site condition. Two different sizes of coarse aggregate were used for NC (20mm and 10mm). Strain gauges were also installed along the bar in some specimens to understand the internal stress mechanism. Test results reveal that anchorage performance is affected at highly congested reinforcement region in NC with maximum aggregate size 20mm whereas; SCC and Small Aggregate (10mm) gives better structural performance. 

Keywords: Anchorage capacity, bond, Normal Concrete, self-compacting concrete.

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Authors: R. Sinthavalai, N. Memongkol, N. Patthanaprechawong, J. Viriyanantavong, C. Choosuk

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In Thailand, the practice of pre-hospital Emergency Medical Service (EMS) in each area reveals the different growth rates and effectiveness of the practices. Those can be found as the diverse quality and quantity. To shorten the learning curve prior to speed-up the practices in other areas, story telling and lessons learnt from the effective practices are valued as meaningful knowledge. To this paper, it was to ascertain the factors, lessons learnt and best practices that have impact as contributing to the success of prehospital EMS system. Those were formulized as model prior to speedup the practice in other areas. To develop the model, Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA), which is widely recognized as a framework for organizational quality assessment and improvement, was chosen as the discussion framework. Remarkably, this study was based on the consideration of knowledge capture; however it was not to complete the loop of knowledge activities. Nevertheless, it was to highlight the recognition of knowledge capture, which is the initiation of knowledge management.

Keywords: Emergency Medical Service, Modeling, MBNQA, Thailand.

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