Search results for: economy effectiveness

Authors: Esma Gizem Daskiran, Mehmet Mustafa Daskiran

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This paper investigates the effectiveness of two natural zeolites in reducing expansion of concrete due to alkali-silica reaction. These natural zeolites have different reactive silica content. Three aggregates; two natural sands and one crushed stone aggregate were used while preparing mortar bars in accordance with accelerated mortar bar test method, ASTM C1260. Performances of natural zeolites are compared by examining the expansions due to alkali silica reaction. Natural zeolites added to the mixtures at 10% and 20% replacement levels by weight of cement. Natural zeolite with high reactive silica content had better performance on reducing expansions due to ASR. In this research, using high reactive zeolite at 20% replacement levels was effective in mitigating expansions.

Keywords: Alkali silica reaction, natural zeolite, durability, expansion.

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Authors: Carlos Mendez Galindo, Toshiro Hayashikawa, Javier Gil Belda

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This paper investigates the effectiveness of the use of seismic isolation devices on the overall 3D seismic response of curved highway viaducts with an emphasis on expansion joints. Furthermore, an evaluation of the effectiveness of the use of cable restrainers is presented. For this purpose, the bridge seismic performance has been evaluated on four different radii of curvature, considering two cases: restrained and unrestrained curved viaducts. Depending on the radius of curvature, three-dimensional non-linear dynamic analysis shows the vulnerability of curved viaducts to pounding and deck unseating damage. In this study, the efficiency of using LRB supports combined with cable restrainers on curved viaducts is demonstrated, not only by reducing in all cases the possible damage, but also by providing a similar behavior in the viaducts despite of curvature radius.

Keywords: Nonlinear dynamic response, seismic design, seismic isolation, unseating prevention system.

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Authors: A. Camões, M. Ferreira Dias, M. Amorim

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In recent years, the social economy is increasingly seen as a viable means to address social problems. Social enterprises, as well as public projects and initiatives targeted to meet social purposes, offer organizational models that assume heterogeneity, flexibility and adaptability to the ‘real world and real problems’. Despite the growing popularity of social initiatives, decision makers still face a paucity in what concerns the available models and tools to adequately assess its sustainability, and its impacts, notably the nature of its contribution to economic growth. This study was carried out at the local level, by analyzing the social impact initiatives and projects promoted by the Municipality of Albergaria-a-Velha (Câmara Municipal de Albergaria-a-Velha -CMA), a municipality of 25,000 inhabitants in the central region of Portugal. This work focuses on the challenges related to the qualifications and employability of citizens, which stands out as one of the key concerns in the Portuguese economy, particularly expressive in the context of small-scale cities and inland territories. The study offers a characterization of the Municipality, its socio-economic structure and challenges, followed by an exploratory analysis of multiple sourced data, collected from the CMA's documental sources as well as from privileged informants. The purpose is to conduct detailed analysis of the CMA's social projects, aimed at characterizing its potential impact for the model of qualifications and employability of the citizens of the Municipality. The study encompasses a discussion of the socio-economic profile of the municipality, notably its asymmetries, the analysis of the social projects and initiatives, as well as of data derived from inquiry actors involved in the implementation of the social projects and its beneficiaries. Finally, the results obtained with the Better Life Index will be included. This study makes it possible to ascertain if what is implicit in the literature goes to the encounter of what one experiences in reality.

Keywords: Measurement, municipalities, social economy, social impact.

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Authors: M. Farshbaf, M. R. Feizi-Derakhshi

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Graph partitioning is a NP-hard problem with multiple conflicting objectives. The graph partitioning should minimize the inter-partition relationship while maximizing the intra-partition relationship. Furthermore, the partition load should be evenly distributed over the respective partitions. Therefore this is a multiobjective optimization problem (MOO). One of the approaches to MOO is Pareto optimization which has been used in this paper. The proposed methods of this paper used to improve the performance are injecting best solutions of previous runs into the first generation of next runs and also storing the non-dominated set of previous generations to combine with later generation's non-dominated set. These improvements prevent the GA from getting stuck in the local optima and increase the probability of finding more optimal solutions. Finally, a simulation research is carried out to investigate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Keywords: Graph partitioning, Genetic algorithm, Multiobjective optimization, Pareto front.

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Authors: Fawaz Saad, Hamid Alalwany

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Sweden has succeeded to maintain a high level of growth and development and has managed to sustain highly ranked position among the world’s developed countries. In this regard, Swedish universities are playing a vital role in supporting innovation and entrepreneurship at all levels and developing Swedish knowledge economy. This paper is aiming to draw on the experiences of two leading Swedish universities, addressing their transformation approach to create entrepreneurial universities and fulfilling their objectives in the era of knowledge economy. The objectives of the paper include: 1) Introducing the Swedish higher education and its characteristics. 2) Examining the infrastructure elements for innovation and Entrepreneurship at two of the Swedish entrepreneurial universities. 3) Addressing the key aspects of support systems in the initiatives of both Chalmers and Gothenburg universities to support innovation and advance entrepreneurial practices. The paper will contribute to two discourses: 1) Examining the relationship between support systems for innovation and entrepreneurship and the Universities’ policies and practices. 2) Lessons for University leaders to assist the development and implementation of effective innovation and entrepreneurship policies and practices.

Keywords: Entrepreneurial university, Chalmers university, Gothenburg university, innovation and entrepreneurship policies, entrepreneurial transformation.

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Authors: Mina Alibeigi, Sattar Hashemi, Ali Hamzeh

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Since dealing with high dimensional data is computationally complex and sometimes even intractable, recently several feature reductions methods have been developed to reduce the dimensionality of the data in order to simplify the calculation analysis in various applications such as text categorization, signal processing, image retrieval, gene expressions and etc. Among feature reduction techniques, feature selection is one the most popular methods due to the preservation of the original features. In this paper, we propose a new unsupervised feature selection method which will remove redundant features from the original feature space by the use of probability density functions of various features. To show the effectiveness of the proposed method, popular feature selection methods have been implemented and compared. Experimental results on the several datasets derived from UCI repository database, illustrate the effectiveness of our proposed methods in comparison with the other compared methods in terms of both classification accuracy and the number of selected features.

Keywords: Feature, Feature Selection, Filter, Probability Density Function

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Authors: Adarsh Patil, David A. Power, John P. Morrison

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Grid environments consist of the volatile integration of discrete heterogeneous resources. The notion of the Grid is to unite different users and organisations and pool their resources into one large computing platform where they can harness, inter-operate, collaborate and interact. If the Grid Community is to achieve this objective, then participants (Users and Organisations) need to be willing to donate or share their resources and permit other participants to use their resources. Resources do not have to be shared at all times, since it may result in users not having access to their own resource. The idea of reward-based computing was developed to address the sharing problem in a pragmatic manner. Participants are offered a reward to donate their resources to the Grid. A reward may include monetary recompense or a pro rata share of available resources when constrained. This latter point may imply a quality of service, which in turn may require some globally agreed reservation mechanism. This paper presents a platform for economybased computing using the WebCom Grid middleware. Using this middleware, participants can configure their resources at times and priority levels to suit their local usage policy. The WebCom system accounts for processing done on individual participants- resources and rewards them accordingly.

Keywords: WebCom, Economy-based computing, WebComGrid Bank Reward, Condensed Graph, Distributor, Accounting, GridPoint.

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Authors: Peng Hao Wang, Garam Kim, Ronald Sterkenburg

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In composite manufacturing, the fabrication of tooling and tooling maintenance contributes to a large portion of the total cost. However, as the applications of composite materials continue to increase, there is also a growing demand for more tooling. The demand for more tooling places heavy emphasis on the industry’s ability to fabricate high quality tools while maintaining the tool’s cost effectiveness. One of the popular techniques of tool fabrication currently being developed utilizes additive manufacturing technology known as 3D printing. The popularity of 3D printing is due to 3D printing’s ability to maintain low material waste, low cost, and quick fabrication time. In this study, a team of Purdue University School of Aviation and Transportation Technology (SATT) faculty and students investigated the effectiveness of a 3D printed composite mold. A steel valve cover from an aircraft reciprocating engine was modeled utilizing 3D scanning and computer-aided design (CAD) to create a 3D printed composite mold. The mold was used to fabricate carbon fiber versions of the aircraft reciprocating engine valve cover. The carbon fiber valve covers were evaluated for dimensional accuracy and quality while the 3D printed composite mold was evaluated for durability and dimensional stability. The data collected from this study provided valuable information in the understanding of 3D printed composite molds, potential improvements for the molds, and considerations for future tooling design.

Keywords: Additive manufacturing, carbon fiber, composite tooling, molds.

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Authors: A. Althobaiti, M. Munro

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Communication and effective information exchange within technology has become a crucial part of delivering knowledge to students during the learning process. It enables better understanding, builds trust and respect, and increases the sharing of knowledge between students. This paper examines the communication between undergraduate students and their lecturers during the traditional lecture and when using the Interactive Electronic Lecture System (IELS). The IELS is an application that offers a set of components which support the effective communication between students and their peers and between students and their lecturers. Moreover, this paper highlights communication skills such as sender, receiver, channel and feedback. It will show how the IELS creates a rich communication environment between its users and how they communicate effectively. To examine and assess the effectiveness of communication, an experiment was conducted on groups of users; students and lecturers. The first group communicated in the traditional lecture while the second group communicated by means of the IELS application. The results show that there was more effective communication between the second group than the first.

Keywords: Communication, effective information exchange.

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Authors: Khin S. Aye

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The present work was conducted to find out the effect of biofertilizer formulated with four species of bacteria (two species of Azotobacter and two species of Lysobacter) and zinc sulphate. Field experiments with mustard plant were conducted to study the effectiveness of soil application of zinc sulphate and biofertilizer at 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 days after sowing. Plant height and condition of plant was found to be increased significantly using a mixture of biofertilizer and zinc sulphate than other treatments after 40 days sowing. Three treatments were also used in this field experiment such as bacteria only, zinc sulphate only and mixture of biofertilizer and zinc sulphate. The treatment using a mixture of zinc sulphate and biofertilizer had the best yield (4688.008 kg/ha) within 50 days of sowing and performed better than other treatments. Field experiment using zinc sulphate only was second best yield (3380.75Kg/ha) and biofertilizer only treatment gave (2639.04kg/ha).

Keywords: biofertilizer, zinc sulphate, mustard plant, bacteria

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Authors: Mustapha Shitu Suleiman, Francis Neshamba, Nestor Valero-Silva

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Small businesses are considered as engine of economic growth, contributing to employment generation, wealth creation, and poverty alleviation and food security in both developed and developing countries. Nigeria is facing many socio-economic problems and it is believed that by supporting small business development, as propellers of new ideas and more effective users of resources, often driven by individual creativity and innovation, Nigeria would be able to address some of its economic and social challenges, such as unemployment and economic diversification. Using secondary literature, this paper examines the role small businesses can play in the creation of jobs in North-West Nigeria to overcome issues of unemployment, which is the most devastating economic challenge facing the region. Most studies in this area have focused on Nigeria as a whole and only a few studies provide a regional focus, hence, this study will contribute to knowledge by filling this gap by concentrating on North-West Nigeria. It is hoped that with the present administration’s determination to improve the economy, small businesses would be used as vehicles for diversification of the economy away from crude oil to create jobs that would lead to a reduction in the country’s high unemployment level.

Keywords: Job creation, North-West Nigeria, small business, unemployment.

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Authors: Gavin J. Baxter, Mark H. Stansfield

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This paper reviews the internal use of blogs and their potential effectiveness as organisational learning tools. Since the emergence of the concept of ‘Enterprise 2.0’ there remains a lack of empirical evidence associated with how organisations are applying social media tools and whether they are effective towards supporting organisational learning. Surprisingly, blogs, one of the more traditional social media tools, still remains under-researched in the context of ‘Enterprise 2.0’ and organisational learning. The aim of this paper is to identify the theoretical linkage between blogs and organisational learning in addition to reviewing prior research on organisational blogging exploring why this area remains underresearched. Through a literature review, one of the principal findings of this paper is that organisational blogs have a mutual compatibility with the interpretivist aspect of organisational learning. This paper further advocates that further empirical work in this subject area is required to substantiate this theoretical assumption.

Keywords: Blogs, Enterprise 2.0, Organisational Learning, Social Media Tools.

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Authors: Paul Henshall, Philip Eames, Roger Moss, Stan Shire, Farid Arya, Trevor Hyde

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Encapsulating the absorber of a flat plate solar thermal collector in vacuum by an enclosure that can be evacuated can result in a significant increase in collector performance and achievable operating temperatures. This is a result of the thermal insulation effectiveness of the vacuum layer surrounding the absorber, as less heat is lost during collector operation. This work describes experimental thermal insulation characterization tests of prototype vacuum flat plate solar thermal collectors that demonstrate the improvement in absorber heat loss coefficients. Furthermore, this work describes the selection and sizing of a getter, suitable for maintaining the vacuum inside the enclosure for the lifetime of the collector, which can be activated at low temperatures.

Keywords: Vacuum, thermal, flat-plate solar collector.

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Authors: Khalid Alnafjan, Tazar Hussain, Hanif Ullah, Zia ul haq Paracha

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Software and applications are subjected to serious and damaging security threats, these threats are increasing as a result of increased number of potential vulnerabilities. Security testing is an indispensable process to validate software security requirements and to identify security related vulnerabilities. In this paper we analyze and compare different available vulnerabilities testing techniques based on a pre defined criteria using analytical hierarchy process (AHP). We have selected five testing techniques which includes Source code analysis, Fault code injection, Robustness, Stress and Penetration testing techniques. These testing techniques have been evaluated against five criteria which include cost, thoroughness, Ease of use, effectiveness and efficiency. The outcome of the study is helpful for researchers, testers and developers to understand effectiveness of each technique in its respective domain. Also the study helps to compare the inner working of testing techniques against a selected criterion to achieve optimum testing results.

Keywords: Software Security, Security Testing, Testing techniques, vulnerability, AHP.

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Authors: Liheng Ying, Guangjiong Sun

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The intent of this essay is to evaluate the effectiveness of surge suppressor aimed at power supply used for automation devices in power distribution system which is consist of MOV and T type low-pass filter. Books, journal articles and e-sources related to surge protection of power supply used for automation devices in power distribution system were consulted, and the useful information was organized, analyzed and developed into five parts: characteristics of surge wave, protection against surge wave, impedance characteristics of target, using Matlab to simulate circuit response after 5kV,1.2/50s surge wave and suggestions for surge protection. The results indicate that various types of load situation have great impact on the effectiveness of surge protective device. Therefore, type and parameters of surge protective device need to be carefully selected, and load matching is also vital to be concerned.

Keywords: automation devices in power distribution system, MOV, surge, T type low-pass filter.

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Authors: Muhammad Farhan, Sayed Faruque, Amr Mohammed, Sami Osman, Omar Al-Jabari, Abdul Almojil

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Saudi Arabia in recent years has seen drastic increase in traffic related crashes. With population of over 29 million, Saudi Arabia is considered as a fast growing and emerging economy. The rapid population increase and economic growth has resulted in rapid expansion of transportation infrastructure, which has led to increase in road crashes. Saudi Ministry of Interior reported more than 7,000 people killed and 68,000 injured in 2011 ranking Saudi Arabia to be one of the worst worldwide in traffic safety. The traffic safety issues in the country also result in distress to road users and cause and economic loss exceeding 3.7 billion Euros annually. Keeping this in view, the researchers in Saudi Arabia are investigating ways to improve traffic safety conditions in the country. This paper presents a multilevel approach to collect traffic safety related data required to do traffic safety studies in the region. Two highway corridors including King Fahd Highway 39 kilometre and Gulf Cooperation Council Highway 42 kilometre long connecting the cities of Dammam and Khobar were selected as a study area. Traffic data collected included traffic counts, crash data, travel time data, and speed data. The collected data was analysed using geographic information system to evaluate any correlation. Further research is needed to investigate the effectiveness of traffic safety related data when collected in a concerted effort.

Keywords: Crash Data, Data Collection, Traffic Safety.

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Authors: Donald C. Lantu, Henndy Ginting, M. Yorga Permana, Dany M. A. Ramdlany

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We constructed a training program for top-talents of a Bank with Scharmer Theory-U as the model. In this training program, we implemented the action learning perspective, as it is claimed to be the most effective one currently available. In the process, participants were encouraged to be more involved, especially compared to traditional lecturing. The goal of this study is to assess the effectiveness of this particular training. The program consists of six days non-residential workshop within two months. Between each workshop, the participants were involved in the works of action learning group. They were challenged by dealing with the real problem related to their tasks at work. The participants of the program were 30 best talents who were chosen according to their yearly performance. Using paired difference statistical test in the behavioral assessment, we found that the training was not effective to increase participants’ leadership competencies. For the future development program, we suggested to modify the goals of the program toward the next stage of development.

Keywords: Action learning, behaviour, leadership development, Theory-U.

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Authors: R. W. Brown, P. J. Blignaut

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An online performance management system was evaluated, and recommendations were made to improve the system. The study shows the effects of not adhering to the established web design principles and conventions. Furthermore, the study indicates that if the online performance management system is not well designed, it may have negative effects on the overall usability of the system and these negative effects will have consequences for both the employer and employees. The evaluation was done in terms of the usability metrics of effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction. Effectiveness was measured in terms of the success rate with which users could execute prescribed tasks in a sandbox system. Efficiency was expressed in terms of the time it took participants to understand what is expected of them and to execute the tasks. Post-test questionnaires were used in order to determine the satisfaction of the participants. Recommendations were made to improve the usability of the online performance management system.

Keywords: Eye tracking, human resource management, performance management, usability.

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Authors: Susanna Vanhamäki, Gabor Schneider, Kati Manskinen

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‘Bioeconomy’ is a complex concept that cuts across many sectors and covers several policy areas. To achieve an overall understanding and support a successful bioeconomy, a cross-sectorial approach is necessary. In practice, due to the concept’s wide scope and varying international approaches, fully understanding bioeconomy is challenging on policy level. This paper provides a background of the topic through an analysis of bioeconomy strategies in the Baltic Sea region. Expert interviews and a small survey were conducted to discover the current and intended focuses of these countries’ bioeconomy sectors. The research shows that supporting sustainability is one of the keys in developing the future bioeconomy. The results highlighted that the bioeconomy has to be sustainable and based on circular economy principles. Currently, traditional bioeconomy sectors like food, wood, fish & waters as well as fuel & energy, which are in the core of national bioeconomy strategies, are best known and are considered more relevant than other bioeconomy industries. However, there is increasing potential for novel sectors, such as textiles and pharmaceuticals. The present research indicates that the opportunities presented by these bioeconomy sectors should be recognised and promoted. Education, research and innovation can play key roles in developing transformative and sustainable improvements in primary production and renewable resources. Furthermore, cooperation between businesses and educators is important.

Keywords: Bioeconomy, circular economy, policy, strategy.

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Authors: G. Theonas, D. Hobbs, D. Rigas

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The scope of this research was to study the relation between the facial expressions of three lecturers in a real academic lecture theatre and the reactions of the students to those expressions. The first experiment aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a virtual lecturer-s expressions on the students- learning outcome in a virtual pedagogical environment. The second experiment studied the effectiveness of a single facial expression, i.e. the smile, on the students- performance. Both experiments involved virtual lectures, with virtual lecturers teaching real students. The results suggest that the students performed better by 86%, in the lectures where the lecturer performed facial expressions compared to the results of the lectures that did not use facial expressions. However, when simple or basic information was used, the facial expressions of the virtual lecturer had no substantial effect on the students- learning outcome. Finally, the appropriate use of smiles increased the interest of the students and consequently their performance.

Keywords: emotion, facial expression, smile, virtual educational environment, virtual learning, virtual lecturer.

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Authors: Samia Alblwi, Amani Ayad

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Mutation testing is the art of generating syntactic variations of a base program and checking whether a candidate test suite can identify all the mutants that are not semantically equivalent to the base; this technique can be used to assess the quality of test suite. One of the main obstacles to the widespread use of mutation testing is cost, as even small programs (a few dozen lines of code) can give rise to a large number of mutants (up to hundreds); this has created an incentive to seek to reduce the number of mutants while preserving their collective effectiveness. Two criteria have been used to reduce the size of mutant sets: equivalence, which aims to partition the set of mutants into equivalence classes modulo semantic equivalence, and selecting one representative per class; and, subsumption, which aims to define a partial ordering among mutants that ranks mutants by effectiveness and seeks to select maximal elements in this ordering. In this paper, we analyze these two policies using analytical and empirical criteria.

Keywords: Mutation testing, mutant sets, mutant equivalence, mutant subsumption, mutant set minimization.

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Authors: Attitude Stabilization of Satellites Using Random Dither Quantization

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Recently, the effectiveness of random dither quantization method for linear feedback control systems has been shown in several papers. However, the random dither quantization method has not yet been applied to nonlinear feedback control systems. The objective of this paper is to verify the effectiveness of random dither quantization method for nonlinear feedback control systems. For this purpose, we consider the attitude stabilization problem of satellites using discrete-level actuators. Namely, this paper provides a control method based on the random dither quantization method for stabilizing the attitude of satellites using discrete-level actuators.

Keywords: Quantized control, nonlinear systems, random dither quantization.

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Authors: Mária Hudáková, Vladimír Míka, Katarína Hollá

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Making decisions is the core of management and a result of conscious activities which is under way in a particular environment and concrete conditions. The managers decide about the goals, procedures and about the methods how to respond to the changes and to the problems which developed. Their decisions affect the effectiveness, quality, economy and the overall successfulness in every organisation. In spite of this fact, they do not pay sufficient attention to the individual steps of the decision-making process. They emphasise more how to cope with the individual methods and techniques of making decisions and forget about the way how to cope with analysing the problem or assessing the individual solution variants. In many cases, the underestimating of the analytical phase can lead to an incorrect assessment of the problem and this can then negatively influence its further solution. Based on our analysis of the theoretical solutions by individual authors who are dealing with this area and the realised research in Slovakia and also abroad we can recognise an insufficient interest of the managers to assess the risks in the decision-making process. The goal of this paper is to assess the risks in the managers´ decision-making process relating to the conditions of the environment, to the subject’s activity (the manager’s personality), to the insufficient assessment of individual variants for solving the problems but also to situations when the arisen problem is not solved. The benefit of this paper is the effort to increase the need of the managers to deal with the risks during the decision-making process. It is important for every manager to assess the risks in his/her decision-making process and to make efforts to take such decisions which reflect the basic conditions, states and development of the environment in the best way and especially for the managers´ decisions to contribute to achieving the determined goals of the organisation as effectively as possible.

Keywords: Risk, decision-making, manager, process, analysis, source of risk.

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Authors: A. R. Abdul Syukor, A. W. Zularisam, Z. Ideris, M. S. Mohd Ismid, H. M. Nakmal, S. Sulaiman, A. H. Hasmanie, M. R. Siti Norsita, M. Nasrullah

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In this study, the effectiveness of an integrated aquatic plants in phytogreen zone was studied and statistical analysis for the promotional integrated phytogreen system approached was discussed. It was found that's the effectiveness of using aquatic plant such as Typha angustifolia sp., Lepironia articulata sp., Limnocharis flava sp., Monochoria vaginalis sp., Pistia stratiotes sp., and Eichhornia crassipes sp., in the conventional oxidation pond process in order to comply the standard A according to Malaysia Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Act 127); Environmental Quality (Sewage) Regulation 2009 for effluent discharge into inland water near the residential area was successfully shown. It was concluded that the integrated phtogreen system developed in this study has great potential for refurbishment wastewater in conventional oxidation pond.

Keywords: Phytoremediation, integrated phytogreen system, sewage treatment plant, oxidation pond, aquatic plants.

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Authors: Oluwatoyin D. Kolawole, Oarabile Mogobe, Lapologang Magole

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Although many factors play a significant role in agricultural production and productivity, the importance of soil fertility cannot be underestimated. The extent to which small farmers are able to manage the fertility of their farmlands is crucial in agricultural development particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).  This paper assesses the nutrient status of selected farmers’ fields in relation to how government policy addresses the allocation of and access to agricultural inputs (e.g. chemical fertilizers) in a unique social-ecological environment of the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana. It also analyses small farmers and soil scientists’ perceptions about the political economy of integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) in the area. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to elicit quantitative and qualitative information from 228 farmers and 9 soil researchers through the use of interview schedules and questionnaires, respectively. Knowledge validation workshops and focus group discussions (FGDs) were also used to collect qualitative data from farmers. Thirty-three composite soil samples were collected from 30 farmers’ plots in three farming communities of Makalamabedi, Nokaneng and Mohembo for laboratory analysis. While meeting points exist, farmers and scientists have divergent perspectives on soil fertility management. Laboratory analysis carried out shows that most soils in the wetland and the adjoining dry-land/upland surroundings are low in essential nutrients as well as in cation exchange capacity (CEC). Although results suggest the identification and use of appropriate inorganic fertilizers, the low CEC is an indication that holistic cultural practices, which are beyond mere chemical fertilizations, are critical and more desirable for improved soil health and sustainable livelihoods in the area. Farmers’ age (t= -0.728; p≤0.10); their perceptions about the political economy (t = -0.485; p≤0.01) of ISFM; and their preference for the use of local knowledge in soil fertility management (t = -10.254; p≤0.01) had a significant relationship with how they perceived their involvement in the implementation of ISFM.

Keywords: Access, Botswana, ecology, inputs, Okavango Delta, policy, scientists, small farmers, soil fertility.

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Authors: Sahilu Wendeson Sahilu, Wan Fatimah Wan Ahmad, Nazleeni Samiha Haron

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Mobile learning (M-learning) integrates mobile devices and wireless computing technology to enhance the current conventional learning system. However, there are constraints which are affecting the implementation of platform and device independent M-learning. The main aim of this research is to fulfill the following main objectives: to develop platform independent mobile learning tool (M-LT) for structured programming course, and evaluate its effectiveness and usability using ADDIE instructional design model (ISD) as M-LT life cycle. J2ME (Java 2 micro edition) and XML (Extensible Markup Language) were used to develop platform independent M-LT. It has two modules lecture materials and quizzes. This study used Quasi experimental design to measure effectiveness of the tool. Meanwhile, questionnaire is used to evaluate the usability of the tool. Finally, the results show that the system was effective and also usability evaluation was positive.

Keywords: ADDIE, Conventional learning, ISD, J2ME, Mlearning, Quasi Experiment, Wireless Technology, XML

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Authors: Rinna Tanaka, Carlos Mendez Galindo, Toshiro Hayashikawa

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The results show that the bridge equipped with seismic isolation bearing system shows a high amount of energy dissipation. The purpose of the present study is to analyze the overall performance of continuous curved highway viaducts with different bearing supports, with an emphasis on the effectiveness of seismic isolation based on lead rubber bearing and hedge reaction force bearing system consisted of friction sliding bearing and rubber bearing. The bridge seismic performance has been evaluated on six different cases with six bearing models. The effects of the different arrangement of bearing on the deck superstructure displacements, the seismic damage at the bottom of the piers, movement track at the pier-s top and the total and strain energies absorbed by the structure are evaluated. In conclusion, the results provide sufficient evidence of the effectiveness on the use of seismic isolation on steel curved highway bridges.

Keywords: Curved highway viaducts, non-linear dynamic response, seismic damage.

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Authors: K. L. Mak, P. Peng

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This paper investigates the problem of automated defect detection for textile fabrics and proposes a new optimal filter design method to solve this problem. Gabor Wavelet Network (GWN) is chosen as the major technique to extract the texture features from textile fabrics. Based on the features extracted, an optimal Gabor filter can be designed. In view of this optimal filter, a new semi-supervised defect detection scheme is proposed, which consists of one real-valued Gabor filter and one smoothing filter. The performance of the scheme is evaluated by using an offline test database with 78 homogeneous textile images. The test results exhibit accurate defect detection with low false alarm, thus showing the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed scheme. To evaluate the detection scheme comprehensively, a prototyped detection system is developed to conduct a real time test. The experiment results obtained confirm the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed detection scheme.

Keywords: Defect detection, Filtering, Gabor function, Gaborwavelet networks, Textile fabrics.

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Authors: W. Wu, X. H. Wang, D. Paull

Abstract:

This paper contributes to the field of Environmental Awareness Training (EAT) evaluation in terms of military activities. Environmental management of military activities is a growing concern for defence forces worldwide and the importance of EAT is becoming widely recognized. As one of Australia-s largest landowners, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) is extremely mindful of its duty as a joint environmental manager. It has an integrated Environmental Management System (EMS) to assist environmental management and EAT is an essential part of the ADF EMS model. This paper examines how EAT was conducted during the exercise Talisman Saber in 2009 (TS09) and evaluates its effectiveness, using Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA), one of the most significant military training areas and a significant protected area in Australia, as a case study. A questionnaire survey conducted showed, overall, that EAT was effective from the perspective of a sample of participants. Recommendations are made for the ADF to refine EAT for future exercises.

Keywords: Australian Defence Force, effectiveness evaluation, Environmental Awareness Training, Shoalwater Bay Training Area

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Authors: Sudip Kumar Kundu, Charu Singh

Abstract:

The climatic condition over Indian region is highly dependent on monsoon. India receives maximum amount of rainfall during southwest monsoon. Indian economy is highly dependent on agriculture. The presence of flood and drought years influenced the total cultivation system as well as the economy of the country as Indian agricultural systems is still highly dependent on the monsoon rainfall. The present study has been planned to investigate the flood and drought years for the north-west Himalayan region from 1951 to 2014 by using area average Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) rainfall data. For this investigation the Normalized index (NI) has been utilized to find out whether the particular year is drought or flood. The data have been extracted for the north-west Himalayan (NWH) region states namely Uttarakhand (UK), Himachal Pradesh (HP) and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) to find out the rainy season average rainfall for each year, climatological mean and the standard deviation. After calculation it has been plotted by the diagrams (or graphs) to show the results- some of the years associated with drought years, some are flood years and rest are neutral. The flood and drought years can also relate with the large-scale phenomena El-Nino and La-Lina.

Keywords: Indian Meteorological Department, Rainfall, Normalized index, Flood, Drought, NWH.

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