Search results for: Strategy plan
1352 Optimal Portfolio Selection in a DC Pension with Multiple Contributors and the Impact of Stochastic Additional Voluntary Contribution on the Optimal Investment Strategy
Authors: Edikan E. Akpanibah, Okwigbedi Oghen’Oro
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In this paper, we studied the optimal portfolio selection in a defined contribution (DC) pension scheme with multiple contributors under constant elasticity of variance (CEV) model and the impact of stochastic additional voluntary contribution on the investment strategies. We assume that the voluntary contributions are stochastic and also consider investments in a risk free asset and a risky asset to increase the expected returns of the contributing members. We derived a stochastic differential equation which consists of the members’ monthly contributions and the invested fund and obtained an optimized problem with the help of Hamilton Jacobi Bellman equation. Furthermore, we find an explicit solution for the optimal investment strategy with stochastic voluntary contribution using power transformation and change of variables method and the corresponding optimal fund size was obtained. We discussed the impact of the voluntary contribution on the optimal investment strategy with numerical simulations and observed that the voluntary contribution reduces the optimal investment strategy of the risky asset.
Keywords: DC pension fund, Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman, optimal investment strategies, power transformation method, stochastic, voluntary contribution.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8321351 Futures Trading: Design of a Strategy
Authors: Jan Zeman
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The paper describes the futures trading and aims to design the speculators trading strategy. The problem is formulated as the decision making task and such as is solved. The solution of the task leads to complex mathematical problems and the approximations of the decision making is demanded. Two kind of approximation are used in the paper: Monte Carlo for the multi-step prediction and iteration spread in time for the optimization. The solution is applied to the real-market data and the results of the off-line experiments are presented.Keywords: futures trading, decision making
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11241350 Competency and Strategy Formulation in Automobile Industry
Authors: Chandan Deep Singh
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In present days, companies are facing the rapid competition in terms of customer requirements to be satisfied, new technologies to be integrated into future products, new safety regulations to be followed, new computer-based tools to be introduced into design activities that becomes more scientific. In today’s highly competitive market, survival focuses on various factors such as quality, innovation, adherence to standards, and rapid response as the basis for competitive advantage. For competitive advantage, companies have to produce various competencies: for improving the capability of suppliers and for strengthening the process of integrating technology. For more competitiveness, organizations should operate in a strategy driven way and have a strategic architecture for developing core competencies. Traditional ways to take such experience and develop competencies tend to take a lot of time and they are expensive. A new learning environment, which is built around a gaming engine, supports the development of competences in specific subject areas. Technology competencies have a significant role in firm innovation and competitiveness; they interact with the competitive environment. Technological competencies vary according to the type of competitive environment, thus enhancing firm innovativeness. Technological competency is gained through extensive experimentation and learning in its research, development and employment in manufacturing. This is a review paper based on competency and strategic success of automobile industry. The aim here is to study strategy formulation and competency tools in the industry. This work is a review of literature related to competency and strategy in automobile industry. This study involves review of 34 papers related to competency and strategy.
Keywords: Competency, competitiveness, manufacturing competency, strategic formulation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21251349 A New Damage Identification Strategy for SHM Based On FBGs and Bayesian Model Updating Method
Authors: Yanhui Zhang, Wenyu Yang
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One of the difficulties of the vibration-based damage identification methods is the nonuniqueness of the results of damage identification. The different damage locations and severity may cause the identical response signal, which is even more severe for detection of the multiple damage. This paper proposes a new strategy for damage detection to avoid this nonuniqueness. This strategy firstly determines the approximates damage area based on the statistical pattern recognition method using the dynamic strain signal measured by the distributed fiber Bragg grating, and then accurately evaluates the damage information based on the Bayesian model updating method using the experimental modal data. The stochastic simulation method is then used to compute the high-dimensional integral in the Bayesian problem. Finally, an experiment of the plate structure, simulating one part of mechanical structure, is used to verify the effectiveness of this approach.
Keywords: Bayesian method, damage detection, fiber Bragg grating, structural health monitoring.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19071348 The Mitigation Strategy Analysis of Kuosheng Nuclear Power Plant Spent Fuel Pool Using MELCOR2.1/SNAP
Authors: Y. Chiang, J. R. Wang, J. H. Yang, Y. S. Tseng, C. Shih, S. W. Chen
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Kuosheng nuclear power plant (NPP) is a BWR/6 plant in Taiwan. There is more concern for the safety of Spent Fuel Pools (SFPs) in Taiwan after Fukushima event. In order to estimate the safety of Kuosheng NPP SFP, by using MELCOR2.1 and SNAP, the safety analysis of Kuosheng NPP SFP was performed combined with the mitigation strategy of NEI 06-12 report. There were several steps in this research. First, the Kuosheng NPP SFP models were established by MELCOR2.1/SNAP. Second, the Station Blackout (SBO) analysis of Kuosheng SFP was done by TRACE and MELCOR under the cooling system failure condition. The results showed that the calculations of MELCOR and TRACE were very similar in this case. Second, the mitigation strategy analysis was done with the MELCOR model by following the NEI 06-12 report. The results showed the effectiveness of NEI 06-12 strategy in Kuosheng NPP SFP. Finally, a sensitivity study of SFP quenching was done to check the differences of different water injection time and the phenomena during the quenching. The results showed that if the cladding temperature was over 1600 K, the water injection may have chance to cause the accident more severe with more hydrogen generation. It was because of the oxidation heat and the “Breakaway” effect of the zirconium-water reaction. An animation model built by SNAP was also shown in this study.
Keywords: MELCOR, SNAP, spent fuel pool, quenching.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 9561347 Study on Changes of Land Use impacting the Process of Urbanization, by Using Landsat Data in African Regions: A Case Study in Kigali, Rwanda
Authors: Delphine Mukaneza, Lin Qiao, Wang Pengxin, Li Yan, Chen Yingyi
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Human activities on land use make the land-cover gradually change or transit. In this study, we examined the use of Landsat TM data to detect the land use change of Kigali between 1987 and 2009 using remote sensing techniques and analysis of data using ENVI and ArcGIS, a GIS software. Six different categories of land use were distinguished: bare soil, built up land, wetland, water, vegetation, and others. With remote sensing techniques, we analyzed land use data in 1987, 1999 and 2009, changed areas were found and a dynamic situation of land use in Kigali city was found during the 22 years studied. According to relevant Landsat data, the research focused on land use change in accordance with the role of remote sensing in the process of urbanization. The result of the work has shown the rapid increase of built up land between 1987 and 1999 and a big decrease of vegetation caused by the rebuild of the city after the 1994 genocide, while in the period of 1999 to 2009 there was a reduction in built up land and vegetation, after the authority of Kigali city established, a Master Plan where all constructions which were not in the range of the master Plan were destroyed. Rwanda's capital, Kigali City, through the expansion of the urban area, it is increasing the internal employment rate and attracts business investors and the service sector to improve their economy, which will increase the population growth and provide a better life. The overall planning of the city of Kigali considers the environment, land use, infrastructure, cultural and socio-economic factors, the economic development and population forecast, urban development, and constraints specification. To achieve the above purpose, the Government has set for the overall planning of city Kigali, different stages of the detailed description of the design, strategy and action plan that would guide Kigali planners and members of the public in the future to have more detailed regional plans and practical measures. Thus, land use change is significantly the performance of Kigali active human area, which plays an important role for the country to take certain decisions. Another area to take into account is the natural situation of Kigali city. Agriculture in the region does not occupy a dominant position, and with the population growth and socio-economic development, the construction area will gradually rise and speed up the process of urbanization. Thus, as a developing country, Rwanda's population continues to grow and there is low rate of utilization of land, where urbanization remains low. As mentioned earlier, the 1994 genocide massacres, population growth and urbanization processes, have been the factors driving the dramatic changes in land use. The focus on further research would be on analysis of Rwanda’s natural resources, social and economic factors that could be, the driving force of land use change.Keywords: Land use change, urbanization, Kigali City, Landsat.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10601346 A Mixed Integer Programming for Port Anzali Development Plan
Authors: Mahdieh Allahviranloo
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This paper introduces a mixed integer programming model to find the optimum development plan for port Anzali. The model minimizes total system costs taking into account both port infrastructure costs and shipping costs. Due to the multipurpose function of the port, the model consists of 1020 decision variables and 2490 constraints. Results of the model determine the optimum number of berths that should be constructed in each period and for each type of cargo. In addition to, the results of sensitivity analysis on port operation quantity provide useful information for managers to choose the best scenario for port planning with the lowest investment risks. Despite all limitations-due to data availability-the model offers a straightforward decision tools to port planners aspiring to achieve optimum port planning steps.
Keywords: MILP, Multipurpose Terminal, Port Operation Optimization, Port Anzali.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16521345 Usage of Military Continuity Management System for Supporting of Emergency Management
Authors: R. Hajkova, J. Palecek, H. Malachova, A. Oulehlova
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Ensuring of continuity of business is basic strategy of every company. Continuity of organization activities includes comprehensive procedures that help in solving unexpected situations of natural and anthropogenic character (for example flood, blaze, economic situations). Planning of continuity operations is a process that helps identify critical processes and implement plans for the security and recovery of key processes. The aim of this article is to demonstrate application of system approach to managing business continuity called business continuity management systems in military issues. This article describes the life cycle of business continuity management which is based on the established cycle PDCA (Plan- Do-Check-Act). After this is carried out by activities which are making by University of Defence during activation of forces and means of the integrated rescue system in case of emergencies - accidents at a nuclear power plant in Czech Republic. Activities of various stages of deployment earmarked forces and resources are managed and evaluated by using MCMS application (Military Continuity Management System).Keywords: Business continuity management system, emergency management, military, nuclear safety.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21331344 Innovation in “Low-Tech” Industries: Portuguese Footwear Industry
Authors: António Marques, Graça Guedes
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The Portuguese footwear industry had in the last five years a remarkable performance in the exportation values, the trade balance and others economic indicators. After a long period of difficulties and with a strong reduction of companies and employees since 1994 until 2009, the Portuguese footwear industry changed the strategy and is now a success case between the international players of footwear. Only the Italian industry sells footwear with a higher value than the Portuguese and the distance between them is decreasing year by year. This paper analyses how the Portuguese footwear companies innovate and make innovation, according the classification proposed by the Oslo Manual. Also, analyses the strategy follow in the innovation process and shows the linkage between the type of innovation and the strategy of innovation. The research methodology was qualitative and the strategy for data collection was the case study. The qualitative data will be analyzed with the MAXQDA software. The economic results of the footwear companies studied shows differences between all of them and these differences are related with the innovation strategy adopted. The companies focused in product and marketing innovation, oriented to their target market, have higher ratios “turnover per worker” than the companies focused in process innovation. However, all the footwear companies in this “low-tech” industry create value and contribute to a positive foreign trade of 1.310 million euros in 2013. The growth strategies implemented has the participation of the sectorial organizations in several innovative projects. And it’s obvious that cooperation between all of them is a critical element to the performance achieved by the companies and the innovation observed. The Portuguese footwear sector has in the last years an excellent performance (economic results, exportation values, trade balance, brands and international image) and his performance is strongly related with the strategy in innovation followed, the type of innovation and the networks in the cluster. A simplified model, called “Ace of Diamonds”, is proposed by the authors and explains the way how this performance was reached by the seven companies that participate in the study (two of them are the leaders in the setor), and if this model can be used in others traditional and “low-tech” industries.
Keywords: Footwear industry, innovation strategy, low-tech industry, Oslo Manual.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17681343 Intellectual Capital Research through Corporate Social Responsibility: (Re) Constructing the Agenda
Authors: Camelia Iuliana Lungu, Chirața Caraiani, Cornelia Dascălu
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The business strategy of any company wanting to be competitive on the market should be designed around the concept of intangibles, with an increasingly decisive role in knowledge transfer of the biggest corporations. Advancing the research in these areas, this study integrates the two approaches, emphasizing the relationships between the components of intellectual capital and corporate social responsibility. The three dimensions of intellectual capital in terms of sustainability requirements are debated. The paper introduces the concept of sustainable intellectual capital and debates it within an assessment model designed on the base of key performance indicators. The results refer to the assessment of possible ways for including the information on intellectual capital and corporate responsibility within the corporate strategy. The conclusions enhance the need for companies to be ready to support the integration of this type of information the knowledge transfer process, in order to develop competitive advantage on the market.Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, corporate strategy, intellectual capital, sustainability
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 26771342 Factors Contributing to Building Construction Project’s Cost Overrun in Jordan
Authors: Ghaleb Y. Abbasi, Sufyan Al-Mrayat
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This study examined the contribution of 36 factors to building construction project’s cost overrun in Jordan. A questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 350 stakeholders comprised of owners, consultants, and contractors, of which 285 responded. SPSS analysis was conducted to identify the top five causes of cost overrun, which were a large number of variation orders, inadequate quantities provided in the contract, misunderstanding of the project plan, incomplete bid documents, and choosing the lowest price in the contract bidding. There was an agreement among the study participants in ranking the factors contributing to cost overrun, which indicated that these factors were very commonly encountered in most construction projects in Jordan. Thus, it is crucial to enhance the collaboration among the different project stakeholders to understand the project’s objectives and set a realistic plan that takes into consideration all the factors that might influence the project cost, which might eventually prevent cost overrun.
Keywords: Cost, overrun, building construction projects, Jordan.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1661341 A Case Study on Optimization of Contractor’s Financing through Allocation of Subcontractors
Authors: Helen S. Ghali, Engy Serag, A. Samer Ezeldin
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In many countries, the construction industry relies heavily on outsourcing models in executing their projects and expanding their businesses to fit in the diverse market. Such extensive integration of subcontractors is becoming an influential factor in contractor’s cash flow management. Accordingly, subcontractors’ financial terms are important phenomena and pivotal components for the well-being of the contractor’s cash flow. The aim of this research is to study the contractor’s cash flow with respect to the owner and subcontractor’s payment management plans, considering variable advance payment, payment frequency, and lag and retention policies. The model is developed to provide contractors with a decision support tool that can assist in selecting the optimum subcontracting plan to minimize the contractor’s financing limits and optimize the profit values. The model is built using Microsoft Excel VBA coding, and the genetic algorithm is utilized as the optimization tool. Three objective functions are investigated, which are minimizing the highest negative overdraft value, minimizing the net present worth of overdraft, and maximizing the project net profit. The model is validated on a full-scale project which includes both self-performed and subcontracted work packages. The results show potential outputs in optimizing the contractor’s negative cash flow values and, in the meantime, assisting contractors in selecting suitable subcontractors to achieve the objective function.
Keywords: Cash flow optimization, payment plan, procurement management, subcontracting plan.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2091340 Sustainable Design Development for Thai Village-Based Manufacturing Products
Authors: Palang Wongtanasuporn
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Rural villagers in Thailand have unique skill for producing craft using local materials. However, the appearance and function of their products are not suited to the demand of international market. The Thai government policy on sustainable economy emphasises the necessity to incorporate a design strategy that will draw out the unique qualities and add value to the products, while raising the satisfaction of international consumer. As an industrial designer, the author sees opportunities that design can enhance sustainability of Thai local products through the potentials that available in village-based enterprises. This research attempts to address, how best use design to practically solve the problems in the development of Thais product in. The privilege solution is expressed through the design of design strategy that supports sustain economic development of microenterprise in Thailand in the way that aligns with product design development. This consideration integrates together with global business outlook in the development of products from rural communities.
Keywords: Community Development, Sufficiency Economy Philosophy, Product Design, Strategy Management.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 25401339 The Use of Degradation Measures to Design Reliability Test Plans
Authors: Stephen V. Crowder, Jonathan W. Lane
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With short production development times, there is an increased need to demonstrate product reliability relatively quickly with minimal testing. In such cases there may be few if any observed failures. Thus it may be difficult to assess reliability using the traditional reliability test plans that measure only time (or cycles) to failure. For many components, degradation measures will contain important information about performance and reliability. These measures can be used to design a minimal test plan, in terms of number of units placed on test and duration of the test, necessary to demonstrate a reliability goal. In this work we present a case study involving an electronic component subject to degradation. The data, consisting of 42 degradation paths of cycles to failure, are first used to estimate a reliability function. Bootstrapping techniques are then used to perform power studies and develop a minimal reliability test plan for future production of this component.
Keywords: Degradation Measure, Time to Failure Distribution, Bootstrap.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18791338 Initiative Strategies on How to Increasing Value Add of the Recycling Business
Authors: Yananda Siraphatthada
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The current study was the succession of a previous study on value added of recycling business management. Its aims are to 1) explore conditions on how to increasing value add of Thai recycling business, and 2) exam the implementation of the 3-staged plan (short, medium, and long term), suggested by the former study, to increase value added of the recycling business as immediate mechanisms to accelerate government operation. Quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized in this research. A qualitative research consisted of in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Responses were obtained from owners of the waste separation plants, and recycle shops, as well as officers in relevant governmental agencies. They were randomly selected via Quota Sampling. Data was analyzed via content analysis. The sample used for quantitative method consisted of 1,274 licensed recycling operators in eight provinces. The operators were randomly stratified via sampling method. Data were analyzed via descriptive statistics frequency, percentage, average (Mean) and standard deviation.The study recommended three-staged plan: short, medium, and long terms. The plan included the development of logistics, the provision of quality market/plants, the amendment of recycling rules/regulation, the restructuring recycling business, the establishment of green-purchasing recycling center, support for the campaigns run by the International Green Purchasing Network (IGPN), conferences/workshops as a public forum to share insights among experts/concern people.
Keywords: Strategies, Value Added, Recycle Business.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17231337 Selecting Materialized Views Using Two-Phase Optimization with Multiple View Processing Plan
Authors: Jiratta Phuboon-ob, Raweewan Auepanwiriyakul
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A data warehouse (DW) is a system which has value and role for decision-making by querying. Queries to DW are critical regarding to their complexity and length. They often access millions of tuples, and involve joins between relations and aggregations. Materialized views are able to provide the better performance for DW queries. However, these views have maintenance cost, so materialization of all views is not possible. An important challenge of DW environment is materialized view selection because we have to realize the trade-off between performance and view maintenance cost. Therefore, in this paper, we introduce a new approach aimed at solve this challenge based on Two-Phase Optimization (2PO), which is a combination of Simulated Annealing (SA) and Iterative Improvement (II), with the use of Multiple View Processing Plan (MVPP). Our experiments show that our method provides a further improvement in term of query processing cost and view maintenance cost.Keywords: Data warehouse, materialized views, view selectionproblem, two-phase optimization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16621336 Scaling Strategy of a New Experimental Rig for Wheel-Rail Contact
Authors: Meysam Naeimi, Zili Li, Rolf Dollevoet
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A new small–scale test rig developed for rolling contact fatigue (RCF) investigations in wheel–rail material. This paper presents the scaling strategy of the rig based on dimensional analysis and mechanical modelling. The new experimental rig is indeed a spinning frame structure with multiple wheel components over a fixed rail-track ring, capable of simulating continuous wheelrail contact in a laboratory scale. This paper describes the dimensional design of the rig, to derive its overall scaling strategy and to determine the key elements’ specifications. Finite element (FE) modelling is used to simulate the mechanical behavior of the rig with two sample scale factors of 1/5 and 1/7. The results of FE models are compared with the actual railway system to observe the effectiveness of the chosen scales. The mechanical properties of the components and variables of the system are finally determined through the design process.
Keywords: New test rig, rolling contact fatigue, rail, small scale.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 23431335 Determinants and Perspectives of an Accounting Career. Empirical Evidence on Students' Perceptions
Authors: Maria Mădălina Gîrbină, Nadia Albu, Cătălin Nicolae Albu
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This study realizes an empirical investigation of main factors to develop an accounting career, stereotypes on accountants and accounting and perceptions on future career path for a sample of master students in accounting. The research provides some insight into what master students consider when choosing their future career paths. The most important two reasons chosen by students were “career opportunities" and “future earnings. They see accounting as structured, governed by conformity, requiring skills in working with numbers, monotonous, accurate, more efficient than effective but also absorbing, interesting and involving a certain degree of novelty. Although these students plan to start their careers in a multinational or accounting/audit firm, most of those plan to leave after five years. It resulted that women value more flexibility and time requiring special attention in retention policies practiced by firms.
Keywords: Accounting career, students' perception, stereotypes.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 33661334 Research on Control Strategy of Differential Drive Assisted Steering of Distributed Drive Electric Vehicle
Authors: J. Liu, Z. P. Yu, L. Xiong, Y. Feng, J. He
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According to the independence, accuracy and controllability of the driving/braking torque of the distributed drive electric vehicle, a control strategy of differential drive assisted steering was designed. Firstly, the assisted curve under different speed and steering wheel torque was developed and the differential torques were distributed to the right and left front wheels. Then the steering return ability assisted control algorithm was designed. At last, the joint simulation was conducted by CarSim/Simulink. The result indicated: the differential drive assisted steering algorithm could provide enough steering drive-assisted under low speed and improve the steering portability. Along with the increase of the speed, the provided steering drive-assisted decreased. With the control algorithm, the steering stiffness of the steering system increased along with the increase of the speed, which ensures the driver’s road feeling. The control algorithm of differential drive assisted steering could avoid the understeer under low speed effectively.
Keywords: Differential assisted steering, control strategy, distributed drive electric vehicle.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22631333 Complex Dynamic Behaviors in an Ivlev-type Stage-structured Predator-prey System Concerning Impulsive Control Strategy
Authors: Shunyi Li, Zhifang He, Xiangui Xue
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An Ivlev-type predator-prey system and stage-structured for predator concerning impulsive control strategy is considered. The conditions for the locally asymptotically stable prey-eradication periodic solution is obtained, by using Floquet theorem and small amplitude perturbation skills——when the impulsive period is less than the critical value. Otherwise, the system is permanence. Numerical examples show that the system considered has more complicated dynamics, including high-order quasi-periodic and periodic oscillating, period-doubling and period-halving bifurcation, chaos and attractor crisis, etc. Finally, the biological implications of the results and the impulsive control strategy are discussed.
Keywords: Stage-structured predator-prey system, Impulsive, Permanence, Bifurcation, Chaos.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16631332 Mobile Mediated Learning and Teachers Education in Less Resourced Region
Authors: Abdul Rashid Ahmadi, Samiullah Paracha, Hamidullah Sokout, Mohammad Hanif Gharanai
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Conventional educational practices, do not offer all the required skills for teachers to successfully survive in today’s workplace. Due to poor professional training, a big gap exists across the curriculum plan and the teacher practices in the classroom. As such, raising the quality of teaching through ICT-enabled training and professional development of teachers should be an urgent priority. ‘Mobile Learning’, in that vein, is an increasingly growing field of educational research and practice across schools and work places. In this paper, we propose a novel Mobile learning system that allows the users to learn through an intelligent mobile learning in cooperatively every-time and every-where. The system will reduce the training cost and increase consistency, efficiency, and data reliability. To establish that our system will display neither functional nor performance failure, the evaluation strategy is based on formal observation of users interacting with system followed by questionnaires and structured interviews.
Keywords: Computer Assisted Learning, Intelligent Tutoring system, Learner Centered Design, Mobile Mediated Learning and Teacher education (MMLTE).
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 22411331 Cross-cultural Analysis of the Strategy of Tolerance in the Republic of Kazakhstan
Authors: N. K. Satybaldina, A. G. Karabayeva, Z. N. Ismagambetova
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The modern Kazakh society is characterized by strengthen cross-cultural communication, the emergence of new powerful subcultures, accelerated change in social systems and values. The socio-political reforms in all fields have changed the quality of social relationships and spiritual life.Cross-cultural approach involves the analysis of different types of behavior and communication, including the manifestation of the conflict, and the formation of marginal destructive stereotypes.
Keywords: Attitudes, Ethnic, Communication, Cross-cultural, Multiethnic, Multicultural, Society, Stereotype, Strategy, Tolerance
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15531330 Village Construction under China-s Rapid Urbanization: The Role and Strategy of Planning in the Rural Areas
Authors: Chen Zhang, Jiwu Wang
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With China's urbanization continuing to accelerate, a amount of rural people flood into China's cities in recent years, and the issue of agriculture, rural areas and farmers is getting more and more serious. In 2005, the Chinese government put forward a plan for “the construction of new rural village", in order to coordinate the development of both urban and rural areas. The planning method of rural region differs sharply from that of urban areas, as same as village social structure and habits of farmer-s life, so the studies which can consider the special needs of village construction in China are absolutely essential. This paper expresses explore current situation and problems existing in the construction of China-s new rural village, such as bigger gap between urban and rural areas, excessive new construction projects, extinct traditional village style and so on. It tries to analyze the deep reason of the present situation of the village from law system, industrial structure, financial sources and planning method. Then it also provides a guide for developing policies and procedures promoting the development of china-s rural areas.
Keywords: Rural areas, village construction, physical planning, law system, financial sources, Public participation, China.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20061329 An Exploration of the Dimensions of Place-Making: A South African Case Study
Authors: W. J. Strydom, K. Puren
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Place-making is viewed here as an empowering process in which people represent, improve and maintain their spatial (natural or built) environment. With the above-mentioned in mind, place-making is multi-dimensional and include a spatial dimension (including visual properties or the end product/plan), a procedural dimension during which (negotiation/discussion of ideas with all relevant stakeholders in terms of end product/plan) and a psychological dimension (inclusion of intrinsic values and meanings related to a place in the end product/plan). These three represent dimensions of place-making. The purpose of this paper is to explore these dimensions of place-making in a case study of a local community in Ikageng, Potchefstroom, North-West Province, South Africa. This case study represents an inclusive process that strives to empower a local community (forcefully relocated due to Apartheid legislation in South Africa). This case study focussed on the inclusion of participants in the decision-making process regarding their daily environment. By means of focus group discussions and a collaborative design workshop, data is generated and ultimately creates a linkage with the theoretical dimensions of place-making. This paper contributes to the field of spatial planning due to the exploration of the dimensions of place-making and the relevancy of this process on spatial planning (especially in a South African setting).
Keywords: Case study, place-making, spatial planning, spatial dimension, procedural dimension, psychological dimension.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17071328 Hierarchical Operation Strategies for Grid Connected Building Microgrid with Energy Storage and Photovoltatic Source
Authors: Seon-Ho Yoon, Jin-Young Choi, Dong-Jun Won
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This paper presents hierarchical operation strategies which are minimizing operation error between day ahead operation plan and real time operation. Operating power systems between centralized and decentralized approaches can be represented as hierarchical control scheme, featured as primary control, secondary control and tertiary control. Primary control is known as local control, featuring fast response. Secondary control is referred to as microgrid Energy Management System (EMS). Tertiary control is responsible of coordinating the operations of multi-microgrids. In this paper, we formulated 3 stage microgrid operation strategies which are similar to hierarchical control scheme. First stage is to set a day ahead scheduled output power of Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) which is only controllable source in microgrid and it is optimized to minimize cost of exchanged power with main grid using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) method. Second stage is to control the active and reactive power of BESS to be operated in day ahead scheduled plan in case that State of Charge (SOC) error occurs between real time and scheduled plan. The third is rescheduling the system when the predicted error is over the limited value. The first stage can be compared with the secondary control in that it adjusts the active power. The second stage is comparable to the primary control in that it controls the error in local manner. The third stage is compared with the secondary control in that it manages power balancing. The proposed strategies will be applied to one of the buildings in Electronics and Telecommunication Research Institute (ETRI). The building microgrid is composed of Photovoltaic (PV) generation, BESS and load and it will be interconnected with the main grid. Main purpose of that is minimizing operation cost and to be operated in scheduled plan. Simulation results support validation of proposed strategies.
Keywords: Battery energy storage system, energy management system, microgrid, particle swarm optimization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10931327 A Subjectively Influenced Router for Vehicles in a Four-Junction Traffic System
Authors: Anilkumar Kothalil Gopalakrishnan
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A subjectively influenced router for vehicles in a fourjunction traffic system is presented. The router is based on a 3-layer Backpropagation Neural Network (BPNN) and a greedy routing procedure. The BPNN detects priorities of vehicles based on the subjective criteria. The subjective criteria and the routing procedure depend on the routing plan towards vehicles depending on the user. The routing procedure selects vehicles from their junctions based on their priorities and route them concurrently to the traffic system. That is, when the router is provided with a desired vehicles selection criteria and routing procedure, it routes vehicles with a reasonable junction clearing time. The cost evaluation of the router determines its efficiency. In the case of a routing conflict, the router will route the vehicles in a consecutive order and quarantine faulty vehicles. The simulations presented indicate that the presented approach is an effective strategy of structuring a subjective vehicle router.Keywords: Backpropagation Neural Network, Backpropagationalgorithm, Greedy routing procedure, Subjective criteria, Vehiclepriority, Cost evaluation, Route generation
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13921326 The Discriminate Analysis and Relevant Model for Mapping Export Potential
Authors: Jana Gutierrez Chvalkovská, Michal Mejstřík, Matěj Urban
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There are pending discussions over the mapping of country export potential in order to refocus export strategy of firms and its evidence-based promotion by the Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) and other permitted vehicles of governments. In this paper we develop our version of an applied model that offers “stepwise” elimination of unattractive markets. We modify and calibrate the model for the particular features of the Czech Republic and specific pilot cases where we apply an individual approach to each sector.
Keywords: Export strategy, Modeling export, Calibration, Export promotion.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24201325 Rationality and Evidence of Pre-Prepared Treatment Plan in Oesophageal HDR Brachytherapy
Authors: Jim Meng, Mammo Yewondwossen
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As a part of routine oesophageal HDR Brachytherapy procedure, treatment planning takes about 45 minutes while patients are under light sedation. Some patients may suffer gagging and/or spasms before the 90-minute brachytherapy procedure complete, and the treatment may need to be aborted. A pre-prepared plan generated before patient’s sedation may reduce the brachytherapy procedure time by 40 minutes. This paper reports rationality and evidence of pre-prepared treatment plans. A retrospective study of 28 patients confirms that pre-prepared plans would be acceptable for all reviewed patients. The rationality is further confirmed by a systemic study with a wide range of applicator curvature and treatment volume. Detailed comparison between CT based treatment plans and pre-prepared plans are discussed. The argument holds for endobronchial HDR brachytherapy too. With the above evidence, pre-prepared plans have been used for all oesophageal and endobronchial HDR brachytherapy cases in our clinic.
Keywords: HDR brachytherapy, treatment planning, oesophageal carcinoma.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14641324 Continuous and Discontinuous Shock Absorber Control through Skyhook Strategy in Semi-Active Suspension System (4DOF Model)
Authors: A. Shamsi, N. Choupani
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Active vibration isolation systems are less commonly used than passive systems due to their associated cost and power requirements. In principle, semi-active isolation systems can deliver the versatility, adaptability and higher performance of fully active systems for a fraction of the power consumption. Various semi-active control algorithms have been suggested in the past. This paper studies the 4DOF model of semi-active suspension performance controlled by on–off and continuous skyhook damping control strategy. The frequency and transient responses of model are evaluated in terms of body acceleration, roll angle and tire deflection and are compared with that of a passive damper. The results show that the semi-active system controlled by skyhook strategy always provides better isolation than a conventional passively damped system except at tire natural frequencies.Keywords: Semi-active suspension system, Skyhook, Vibration isolation, 4DOF model.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 27251323 Organizational Strategy for Technology Convergence
Authors: Seongykyoon Jeong, Sungki Lee, Jaeyun Kim, Seunghun Oh, Kiho Kwak
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The purpose of this article is to identify the practical strategies of R&D (research and development) entities for developing converging technology in organizational context. Based on the multi-assignation technological domains of patents derived from entire government-supported R&D projects for 13 years, we find that technology convergence is likely to occur when a university solely develops technology or when university develops technology as one of the collaborators. These results reflect the important role of universities in developing converging technology
Keywords: Interdisciplinary, Research and development strategy, Technology convergence
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1932