Search results for: Customer Relationship Management

Authors: G.Y. Zhang , M.L. Xu, R.Q. Zhang, W.H. Tang

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MOC (method of cell) is a new method of investigating wave propagating in material with periodic microstructure, and can reflect the effect of microstructure. Wave propagation in periodically laminated medium consisting of linearly elastic layers can be treated as a special application of this method. In this paper, it was used to simulate the dynamic response of carbon-phenolic to impulsive loading under certain boundary conditions. From the comparison between the results obtained from this method and the exact results based on propagator matrix theory, excellent agreement is achieved. Conclusion can be made that the oscillation periodicity is decided by the thickness of sub-cells. In the end, the NHDMOC method, which permits studying stress wave propagation with one dimensional strain, was applied to study the one-dimensional stress wave propagation. In this paper, the ZWT nonlinear visco-elastic constitutive relationship with 7 parameters, NHDMOC, and corresponding equations were deduced. The equations were verified, comparing the elastic stress wave propagation in SHPB with, respectively, the elastic and the visco-elastic bar. Finally the dispersion and attenuation of stress wave in SHPB with visco-elastic bar was studied.

Keywords: MOC, NHDMOC, visco-elastic, wave propagation

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Authors: Mina Najafi, Mustafa Kamal Bin Mohd Shariff

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Place is a where dimension formed by people-s relationship with physical settings, individual and group activities, and meanings. 'Place Attachment', 'Place Identity'and 'Sense of Place' are some concepts that could describe the quality of people-s relationships with a place. The concept of Sense of place is used in studying human-place bonding, attachment and place meaning. Sense of Place usually is defined as an overarching impression encompassing the general ways in which people feel about places, senses it, and assign concepts and values to it. Sense of place is highlighted in this article as one of the prevailing concepts among place-based researches. Considering dimensions of sense of place has always been beneficial for investigating public place attachment and pro-environmental attitudes towards these places. The creation or preservation of Sense of place is important in maintaining the quality of the environment as well as the integrity of human life within it. While many scholars argued that sense of place is a vague concept, this paper will summarize and analyze the existing seminal literature. Therefore, in this paper first the concept of Sense of place and its characteristics will be examined afterward the scales of Sense of place will be reviewed and the factors that contribute to form Sense of place will be evaluated and finally Place Attachment as an objective dimension for measuring the sense of place will be described.

Keywords: Place, Place Attachment, Sense of place

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Authors: Najib Ahmad Marzuki, Che Su Mustaffa, Johana Johari, Nur Hafizza Rahaman

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The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects and relationship of stress and social support towards the quality of life among flood victims in Malaysia. A total of 764 respondents took part in the survey via convenience sampling. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress scale (DASS) was utilized to measure stress while The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support was used to measure social support. To measure quality of life, the combination of WHO Quality of Life – BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) and The Impact of Event Scale – Revised (IES-R) were utilized. The findings of this study indicate that there were significant correlations between variables in the study. The findings showed a significant negative relation between stress and quality of life; and significant positive correlations between support from family as well as support from friends with quality of life. Stress and support from family were found to be significant predictors that influence the quality of life among flood victims.

Keywords: Stress, social support, quality of life, flood victims.

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Authors: Kettawa Boonprakarn, Jedsarid Sangkaphan, Bejapornd Deekhuntod, Nuntharat Suriyo

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This study aimed to investigate the existence of field corn networks on the Thailand-Burma border under the patron-client contract farming system. The data of this qualitative study were collected through in-depth interviews with nine key informants.

The results of the study revealed that the existence of the field corn networks was associated with the relationship where farmers had to share their crops with protectors in the areas under the influence of the KNU (Karen National Union) and the DKBA (Democratic Karen Buddhist Army) or Burmese soldiers. A Mae Liang, the person who starts a network has a connection with a Thaokae, Luk Rai Hua Chai or the head of a group of farmers, and farmers. They are under the patron-client system with trust and loyalty that enable the head of the group and the farmers in the Burma border side to remain under the same Mae Liang even though the business has been passed down to later generations.

Keywords: Existence, field-corn networks, patron-client system, contract farming.

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Authors: Daniel C. S. Lim, W. Y. Tan

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The world is facing a growing food crisis. The concerns of food nutritional value, food safety and food security are becoming increasingly real. There is also a direct relationship to the risk of diseases, particularly chronic diseases, to the food we consume. So, there are increasing concerns about the modern day food ecosystem creating foods that can provide the nutritional components for organ function sustenance, as well as, taking a serious view on diet-related diseases. This paper addresses some of the above concerns and gives an overview of the current global situation relating to food nutrition and safety. The paper reviews nutritional aspects of food today compared to those of the last century, compares whole foods found in supermarkets versus those organically grown, as well as population behaviour towards food choices. It provides scientific insights into the effects of some of the global trends such as climate change and other changes environmental changes, and presents what individuals and corporations are doing to use the latest nutritional technologies as strategic assets. Finally, it briefly highlights some of the innovative solutions that are being applied to address several of the above concerns.

Keywords: Food crisis, food safety, nutritional aspects of food today compared to those of the last century, global trends.

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Authors: A. Khelifi, D. Ahmed, R. Salem, N. Ali

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Large patients’ queues at pharmacies and hospitals are a problem that faces the supposedly smooth and healthy environment in United Arab Emirates. As this sometimes leads to dissatisfaction from visiting patients, we tried to solve this problem with additional beneficial functions by developing the Hospital-Pharmacy Management System. The primary purpose of this research is to develop a system that joins the databases of a hospital and a pharmacy together for a better integrated system that provides a better coherent working environment. Three methods are used to design the system. These methods are detailed literature review, an extensive feasibility study and surveys for doctors, hospital IT managers and End-users. Interviews and surveys with related stakeholders were done to depict system’s requirements; design and prototype. The prototype illustrates system’s features and its client and server architecture. The system has a mobile application for visiting patients to, mainly, keep track of their prescriptions and access to their personal information. The server side allows doctors to submit the prescriptions online to pharmacists who will process them. This system is expected to reduce the long waiting queues of patients and increase their satisfaction while also reducing doctors and pharmacists’ stress and facilitating their work. It will be deployed to users of Android devices only. This limitation will be resolved, as one of main future enhancements, once the system finds acceptance from hospitals and pharmacies in United Arab Emirates.

Keywords: Hospital, Information System, Integration, Pharmacy.

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Authors: Mahmoud Shaker, Ala'a Imran

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Greenhouse is a building, which provides controlled climate conditions to the plants to keep them from external hard conditions. Greenhouse technology gives freedom to the farmer to select any crop type in any time during year. The quality and productivity of plants inside greenhouse is highly dependent on the management quality and a good management scheme is defined by the quality of the information collected from the greenhouse environment. Therefore, Continuous monitoring of environmental variables such as temperature, humidity, and soil moisture gives information to the grower to better understand, how each factor affects growth and how to manage maximal crop productiveness. In this piper, we designed and implemented climate monitoring with irrigation control system based on Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) technology. The designed system is characterized with friendly to use, easy to install by any greenhouse user, multi-sensing nodes, multi-PAN ID, low cast, water irrigation control and low operation complexity. The system consists of two node types (sensing and control) with star topology on one PAN ID. Moreover, greenhouse manager can modifying system parameters such as (sensing node addresses, irrigation upper and lower control limits) by updating corresponding data in SDRAM memory. In addition, the designed system uses 2*16 characters. LCD to display the micro climate parameters values of each plants row inside the greenhouse.

Keywords: ZigBee, WSN, Arduino platform, Greenhouse automation, micro climate monitoring, smart Irrigation control.

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Authors: A. Alhazza, B. Alnaser

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Orthodontic restorative materials are widely used for the direct restoration of teeth or for cosmetic dentistry purposes. These materials have helped to solve many dental problems, providing healthy and beautiful smiles for many patients. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether the pH value has an effect on the surface structure of a nanohybrid composite material. Five different types of highly consumed beverages were selected to examine their effect on the surface structure of the nanohybrid composite material. The beverages had different pH values in the range of 3–6, i.e., they were all acidic. The material was investigated under the hardest conditions of surface exposure to the drinks by immersing the material for a long period. The specimens were examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) at different magnifications to investigate the effect of these beverages on the morphology of the nanohybrid composite material discs. All specimens showed an effect including pores, cracks, protrusions, and surface roughness as a result of the beverages. The degree of effect differed from one experimental group to another, but there was no relationship between the pH (acidity) value and the degree of effect on the surface structure of the specimens.

Keywords: Acidity, beverage, SEM, dentistry.

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Authors: Sulaiman Ainin, Yusniza Kamar ulzaman, Abdul Ghani Farinda

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This study was initiated with a three prong objective. One, to identify the relationship between Technological Competencies factors (Technical Capability, Firm Innovativeness and E-Business Practices and professional service firms- business performance. To investigate the predictors of professional service firms business performance and finally to evaluate the predictors of business performance according to the type of professional service firms, a survey questionnaire was deployed to collect empirical data. The questionnaire was distributed to the owners of the professional small medium size enterprises services in the Accounting, Legal, Engineering and Architecture sectors. Analysis showed that all three Technology Competency factors have moderate effect on business performance. In addition, the regression models indicate that technical capability is the most highly influential that could determine business performance, followed by e-business practices and firm innovativeness. Subsequently, the main predictor of business performance for all types of firms is Technical capability.

Keywords: technology competency, technology capability, innovativeness, E-business practice

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Authors: M. H. Imam, Imran A. Tasadduq, Abdul-Rahim Ahmad, Fahd M. Aldosari

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Learning outcomes of a course (CLOs) and the abilities at the time of graduation referred to as Student Outcomes (SOs) are required to be assessed for ABET accreditation. A question in an assessment must target a CLO as well as an SO and must represent a required level of competence. This paper presents the idea of an Expert System (ES) to select a proper question to satisfy ABET accreditation requirements. For ES implementation, seven attributes of a question are considered including the learning outcomes and Bloom’s Taxonomy level. A database contains all the data about a course including course content topics, course learning outcomes and the CLO-SO relationship matrix. The knowledge base of the presented ES contains a pool of questions each with tags of the specified attributes. Questions and the attributes represent expert opinions. With implicit rule base the inference engine finds the best possible question satisfying the required attributes. It is shown that the novel idea of such an ES can be implemented and applied to a course with success. An application example is presented to demonstrate the working of the proposed ES.

Keywords: Expert system, student outcomes, course learning outcomes, question attributes.

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Authors: A. I. Alateyah, H. N. Dhakal, Z. Y. Zhang

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Contact angle measurement was utilized in order to study the subject of the wettability and surface chemistry of the nanocomposites materials. Water and glycerol droplets were used in this study. The incorporation of layered silicate into the vinyl ester matrix helped to improve the wettability and reduced the θ values of both liquids used. The addition of 2 wt.% clay loading reduced the θ values of water and glycerol by up to 21% and 6% respectively. Likewise, the incorporation of 4 wt.% clay loading reduced the water and glycerol θ values by 49% and 38% respectively. Also this study confirms the findings in the literature regarding the relationship between the intercalation nanocomposites level and the wettability. Wide Angle X-ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy were utilised in order to characterise the interlamellar structure of nanocomposites.

Keywords: Vinyl ester, nanocomposites, layered silicate, characterisations, contact angle measurement, wettability.

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Authors: D. Moussazadeh, A. Aytug

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The architecture of the museum is the most exciting space for an architecture to discover and investigate. Undoubtedly, those museums that have been largely supported by people have come to be cultural memorabilia, moreover holding competitions in museums, producing new publications for theoretical or intellectual debates, and new designs lead the museums to be the most effective and attractive place for work and study. The importance of museums as centers of knowledge, science and art has increased over the last century. Museums have moved from being a place specific to the first-class of the community, to a place used by the whole community widely. By considering these reasons, the value and importance of museums in today's society is imperative. Finding common features for museum architecture in the decades after 1990s has become more difficult than previous decades. The purpose of this article is to examine the effect of museums and their position in society on architectural design of museums from the beginning to the present. In other words, this research aims to investigate the history of museums, their roles, duties, uses, their relationship with users and their position and, consequently, the impact of all these factors on the design of museum architecture. Finally, the main objective of this article is to find the position of museums in the community and their architectural form in the present century.

Keywords: Museum, form, architecture.

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Authors: Stéphanie Leheis

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To fight against the economic crisis, French Government, like many others in Europe, has decided to give a boost to high-speed line projects. This paper explores the implementation and decision-making process in TGV projects, their evolutions, especially since the Mediterranean TGV-line. This project was probably the most controversial, but paradoxically represents today a huge success for all the actors involved. What kind of lessons we can learn from this experience? How to evaluate the impact of this project on TGV-line planning? How can we characterize this implementation and decision-making process regards to the sustainability challenges? The construction of Mediterranean TGV-line was the occasion to make several innovations: to introduce more dialog into the decisionmaking process, to take into account the environment, to introduce a new project management and technological innovations. That-s why this project appears today as an example in terms of integration of sustainable development. In this paper we examine the different kinds of innovations developed in this project, by using concepts from sociology of innovation to understand how these solutions emerged in a controversial situation. Then we analyze the lessons which were drawn from this decision-making process (in the immediacy and a posteriori) and the way in which procedures evolved: creation of new tools and devices (public consultation, project management...). Finally we try to highlight the impact of this evolution on TGV projects governance. In particular, new methods of implementation and financing involve a reconfiguration of the system of actors. The aim of this paper is to define the impact of this reconfiguration on negotiations between stakeholders.

Keywords: High-speed train, innovation, governance, sustainability.

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Authors: K. Lisinchuk

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An effective approach to the management of international educational mobility in regional universities with the purpose of increasing tourist activity in the region is considered.

Keywords: Export and import of tourist and educational services, international academic mobility, regional tourist activities.

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Authors: Kanlaya Kong-ngern, Tossapol Buaphan, Duangsamorn Tulaphitak, Naug Phuvongpha, Sirirut Wongpakonkul, Piyada Threerakulpisut

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Pearson-s correlation coefficient and sequential path analysis has been used for determining the interrelationship among yield, yield components, soil minerals and aroma of Khao Dawk Mali (KDML) 105 rice grown in the area of Tungkularonghai in Roi-Et province, located in the northeast of Thailand. Pearson-s correlation coefficient in this study showed that the number of panicles was the only factor that had positive significant (0.790**) effect on grain yield. Sequential path analysis revealed that the number of panicles followed by the number of fertile spikelets and 100-grain weight were the first-order factors which had positive direct effects on grain yield. Whereas, other factors analyzed had indirect effects influencing grain yield. This study also indicated that no significant relationship was found between the aroma level and any of the factors analyzed.

Keywords: 2-Acetyl-1-Pyrroline, rice aroma

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Authors: Abeer Samy, Oliver C. Saavedra Valeriano, Abdelazim Negm

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The Blue Nile Basin is the most important tributary of the Nile River. Egypt and Sudan are almost dependent on water originated from the Blue Nile. This multi-dependency creates conflicts among the three countries Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia making the management of these conflicts as an international issue. Good assessment of the water resources of the Blue Nile is an important to help in managing such conflicts. Hydrological models are good tool for such assessment. This paper presents a critical review of the nature and variability of the climate and hydrology of the Blue Nile Basin as a first step of using hydrological modeling to assess the water resources of the Blue Nile. Many several attempts are done to develop basin-scale hydrological modeling on the Blue Nile. Lumped and semi distributed models used averages of meteorological inputs and watershed characteristics in hydrological simulation, to analyze runoff for flood control and water resource management. Distributed models include the temporal and spatial variability of catchment conditions and meteorological inputs to allow better representation of the hydrological process. The main challenge of all used models was to assess the water resources of the basin is the shortage of the data needed for models calibration and validation. It is recommended to use distributed model for their higher accuracy to cope with the great variability and complexity of the Blue Nile basin and to collect sufficient data to have more sophisticated and accurate hydrological modeling.

Keywords: Blue Nile Basin, Climate Change, Hydrological Modeling, Watershed.

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Authors: Tina Vuko, Marija Maretić, Marko Čular

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The aim of this study is to analyze the role and effectiveness of internal mechanism (audit committee) of corporate governance on credit institutions performance in Croatia. Based on research objective, sample of 78 credit institutions listed on Zagreb Stock Exchange, from 2007 to 2012, has been collected and efficiency index of audit committee (EIAC) has been created. Based on the sample and created EIAC, conclusions are as follows: audit committees of credit institutions have medium efficiency, based on EIAC measurement; there is a significant difference in audit committee effectiveness, in observed period; there is no positive relationship between audit committee effectiveness and credit institution performance; there is a significant difference between level of audit committee effectiveness and audit firm type. Future research should contain increased number of elements in EIAC creation and increased sample, for all obligators who need to establish audit committee.

Keywords: Corporate Governance, Audit Committee, Financial Institutions, Efficiency Index of Audit Committee.

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Authors: Y. Rathiranee, D. M. Semasinghe

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This study attempts to identify the factors influencing on women empowerment of rural area in Sri Lanka through micro finance services. Data were collected from one hundred (100) rural women involving self-employment activities through a questionnaire using direct personal interviews. Judgment and Convenience Random sampling technique was used to select the sample size from three Divisional Secretariat divisions of Kandawalai, Poonakari and Karachchi in Kilinochchi District. The factor analysis was performed on fourteen (14) variables for screening and reducing the variables to identify the influencing factors on empowerment. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify the relationship between the three empowerment factors and the impact of micro finance on overall empowerment of rural women. The result of this study summarized the variables into three factors namely decision making, freedom to mobility and family support and which are positively associated with empowerment. In addition to this the value of adjusted R2 is 0.248 indicates that all the variables extracted can be explained 24.8% of the variation in the women empowerment through microfinance. Independent variables of these three factors have positive correlation with women empowerment as well as significant values at 5 percent level.

Keywords: Influencing factors, Micro finance, rural women and women empowerment.

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Authors: Yongsheng Guo, Shuchao Li

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This study explores Chinese Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Europe and the cross-cultural cooperation between Chinese and European managers. The aim of this research is to shed light on the phenomenon of investments in developed countries from an emerging market and to gain insights into the cooperation process. A grounded theory approach is adopted, and 46 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 case companies in Germany and 13 case companies in the UK. Grounded theory models are developed from primary data and interview quotes are used to support the themes. The interviewees perceived differences between the two parties in cultural traits, management concepts, knowledge structure and resource endowment between the two parties. Chinese and European partners can take advantage of different resources and cooperate in innovative ways to improve corporate performance. Moreover, both parties appreciate different ethical and cultural characteristics and complement each other to develop a combined organizational culture. This study proposes an ethical and cultural diversity theory in international management arguing that a team with diversified values and behaviours may be more excited and motivated. This study suggests that “resource complement” and “cross-cultural cooperation” might be an advantage for international investment. Firms are encouraged to open their minds and cooperate with partners with different resources and cultures. The authorities may review the FDI policies to reduce social and political barriers.

Keywords: Cross-culture, FDI, China, Europe.

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Authors: A. Hung, K. Mithraratne, M. Sagar, P. Hunter

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A biophysically based multilayer continuum model of the facial soft tissue composite has been developed for simulating wrinkle formation. The deformed state of the soft tissue block was determined by solving large deformation mechanics equations using the Galerkin finite element method. The proposed soft tissue model is composed of four layers with distinct mechanical properties. These include stratum corneum, epidermal-dermal layer (living epidermis and dermis), subcutaneous tissue and the underlying muscle. All the layers were treated as non-linear, isotropic Mooney Rivlin materials. Contraction of muscle fibres was approximated using a steady-state relationship between the fibre extension ratio, intracellular calcium concentration and active stress in the fibre direction. Several variations of the model parameters (stiffness and thickness of epidermal-dermal layer, thickness of subcutaneous tissue layer) have been considered.

Keywords: Bio-physically based, soft tissue mechanics, facialtissue composite, wrinkling.

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Authors: Mohammad Ali Abdi, Sima Mehdizadegan Namin

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Sustainable development is a concept which was originated in Burtland commission in 1978. Although this concept was born with environmental aspects, it is penetrated in all areas rapidly, turning into a dominate view of planning. Concentrating on future generation issue, especially when talking about heritage has a long story. Each approach with all of its characteristics illustrates differences in planning, hence planning always reflects the dominate idea of its age. This paper studies sustainable development in planning for historical cities with the aim of finding ways to deal with heritage in planning for historical cities in Iran. Through this, it will be illustrated how challenges between sustainable concept and heritage could be concluded in planning. Consequently, the paper will emphasize on: Sustainable development in city planning Trends regarding heritage Challenges due to planning for historical cities in Iran For the first two issues, documentary method regarding the sustainable development and heritage literature is considered. As the next step focusing on Iranian historical cities require considering the urban planning and management structure and identifying the main challenges related to heritage, so analyzing challenges regarding heritage is considered. As the result it would be illustrated that key issue in such planning is active conservation to improve and use the potential of heritage while it's continues conservation is guaranteed. By emphasizing on the planning system in Iran it will be obvious that some reforms are needed in this system and its way of relating with heritage. The main weakness in planning for historical cities in Iran is the lack of independent city management. Without this factor achieving active conservation as the main factor of sustainable development would not be possible.

Keywords: Active conservation, city planning, heritage, sustainable development.

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Authors: A. Sivakumar, S. S. Darun Prakash, P. Navaneethakrishnan

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In and around Erode District, it is estimated that more than 1250 chemical and allied textile processing fabric industries are affected, partially closed and shut off for various reasons such as poor management, poor supplier performance, lack of planning for productivity, fluctuation of output, poor investment, waste analysis, labor problems, capital/labor ratio, accumulation of stocks, poor maintenance of resources, deficiencies in the quality of fabric, low capacity utilization, age of plant and equipment, high investment and input but low throughput, poor research and development, lack of energy, workers’ fear of loss of jobs, work force mix and work ethic. The main objective of this work is to analyze the existing conditions in textile fabric sector, validate the break even of Total Productivity (TP), analyze, design and implement fuzzy sets and mathematical programming for improvement of productivity and quality dimensions in the fabric processing industry. It needs to be compatible with the reality of textile and fabric processing industries. The highly risk events from productivity and quality dimension were found by fuzzy systems and results are wrapped up among the textile fabric processing industry.

Keywords: Break Even Point, Fuzzy Crisp Data, Fuzzy Sets, Productivity, Productivity Cycle, Total Productive Maintenance.

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Authors: Wooyoung Jung, Minho Kwon, Jinsup Kim, Buseog Ju

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Numerous experimental tests for post-installed anchor systems drilled in hardened concrete were conducted in order to estimate pull-out and shear strength accounting for uncertainties such as torque ratios, embedment depths and different diameters in demands. In this study, the strength of the systems was significantly changed by the effect of those three uncertainties during pull-out experimental tests, whereas the shear strength of the systems was not affected by torque ratios. It was also shown that concrete cone failure or damage mechanism was generally investigated during and after pull-out tests and in shear strength tests, mostly the anchor systems were failed prior to failure of primary structural system. Furthermore, 3D finite element model for the anchor systems was created by ABAQUS for the numerical analysis. The verification of finite element model was identical till the failure points to the load-displacement relationship specified by the experimental tests.

Keywords: Post-installed anchor, Pull-out test, Shear test, Torque , ABAQUS.

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Authors: Brian Ceh, Alison Jackson-Holland

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Food deserts are a reality in some cities. These deserts can be described as a shortage of healthy food options within close proximity of consumers. The shortage in this case is typically facilitated by a lack of stores in an urban area that provide adequate fruit and vegetable choices. This study explores new avenues to better understand food deserts by examining modes of transportation that are available to shoppers or consumers, e.g. walking, automobile, or public transit. Further, this study is unique in that it not only explores the location of large grocery stores, but small grocery and convenience stores too. In this study, the relationship between some socio-economic indicators, such as personal income, are also explored to determine any possible association with food deserts. In addition, to help facilitate our understanding of food deserts, complex network spatial models that are built on adequate algorithms are used to investigate the possibility of food deserts in the city of Hamilton, Canada. It is found that Hamilton, Canada is adequate serviced by retailers who provide healthy food choices and that the food desert phenomena is almost absent.

Keywords: Canada, desert, food, Hamilton, stores.

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Authors: Ramy H. Mohammed

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Understanding the behavior of airflow in a room is essential for building designers to provide the most efficient design of ventilation system, and having acceptable indoor air quality. This trend is the motive to solve the relationship between airflow parameters and thermal comfort. This paper investigates airflow characteristics, indoor air quality (IAQ), and the thermal comfort (TC) in a ventilated room with a displacement ventilation system using three dimensional CFD code [AirPak 2.0.6]. After validation of the code, a numerical study is executed for a typical room with dimensions of 5m by 3m by 3m height according to a variety of supply air velocities, supply air temperature and supply air relative humidity. The finite volume method and the indoor zero equation turbulence models are employed for solving the governing equations numerically. The temperature field and the mean age of air (MAA) in the modeled room for a displacement ventilation system are determined according to a variety of the above parameters. The variable air volume (VAV) systems with different supply air velocity are applicable to control room air temperature for a displacement ventilation system.

Keywords: Displacement ventilation, AirPak, Indoor zero equation, MAA.

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Authors: Sakshi Kausha, R.K Sharma

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High speed networks provide realtime variable bit rate service with diversified traffic flow characteristics and quality requirements. The variable bit rate traffic has stringent delay and packet loss requirements. The burstiness of the correlated traffic makes dynamic buffer management highly desirable to satisfy the Quality of Service (QoS) requirements. This paper presents an algorithm for optimization of adaptive buffer allocation scheme for traffic based on loss of consecutive packets in data-stream and buffer occupancy level. Buffer is designed to allow the input traffic to be partitioned into different priority classes and based on the input traffic behavior it controls the threshold dynamically. This algorithm allows input packets to enter into buffer if its occupancy level is less than the threshold value for priority of that packet. The threshold is dynamically varied in runtime based on packet loss behavior. The simulation is run for two priority classes of the input traffic – realtime and non-realtime classes. The simulation results show that Adaptive Partial Buffer Sharing (ADPBS) has better performance than Static Partial Buffer Sharing (SPBS) and First In First Out (FIFO) queue under the same traffic conditions.

Keywords: Buffer Management, Consecutive packet loss, Quality-of-Service, Priority based packet discarding, partial buffersharing.

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Authors: Beate Niemann, Fabian Pramel

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The formerly industrially or militarily used Urban Waterfront is a potential area for urban development. Extensive interventions in the urban space come along with the development of these previously inaccessible areas in the city. The development of the Urban Waterfront in the European City is not subject to any recognizable urban paradigm. In this study, the development of the Urban Waterfront as a new urban space typology is analyzed by case studies of Urban Waterfront developments in European Cities. For humans, perceptible spatial conditions are categorized and it is identified whether the themed Urban Waterfront Developments are congruent or incongruent urban design interventions and which deviations the Urban Waterfront itself induce. As congruent urban design, a design is understood, which fits in the urban fabric regarding its similar spatial conditions to the surrounding. Incongruent urban design, however, shows significantly different conditions in its shape. Finally, the spatial relationship of the themed Urban Waterfront developments and their associated environment are compared in order to identify contrasts between new and old urban space. In this way, conclusions about urban design paradigms of the new urban space typology are tried to be drawn.

Keywords: Composition, congruence, identity, paradigm, spatial condition, urban design, urban development, urban waterfront.

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Authors: Mohammad Rohani, Gholamali Shafabakhsh, Abdolhosein Haddad, Ehsan Asnaashari

Abstract:

Visual simulation has emerged as a key planning tool in built environment because it enables architects, engineers and project managers to visualize construction process evolution before the project actual commences. This provides an efficient technology for reducing time and cost through planning and controlling resources, machines and materials. With the development of infrastructure projects and the massive civil constructions such as bridges, urban tunnels and highways as well as sensitivity of their construction operations, it is very necessary to apply proper planning methods. Implementation of visual techniques into management of construction projects can provide a fundamental foundation for projects with massive activities and duplicate items. So, the purpose of this paper is to develop visual simulation management techniques for infrastructure projects such as highways bridges by the use of Four-Dimensional Computer-Aided design Models. This project simulates operational assembly-line for Box-Girder Concrete Bridges which it would be able to optimize the sequence and interaction of project activities and on the other hand, it would minimize any unintended conflicts prior to project start. In this paper, after introducing the various planning methods by building information model and concrete bridges in highways, an executive case study is demonstrated and then a visual technique (4D CAD) will be applied for the case. In the final step, the user feedback for interacting by this system evaluated according to six criteria.

Keywords: 4D application area, Box-Girder concrete bridges, CAD model, visual planning.

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Authors: Mert Bal, Hayri Sever, Oya Kalıpsız

Abstract:

Medical Decision Support Systems (MDSSs) are sophisticated, intelligent systems that can provide inference due to lack of information and uncertainty. In such systems, to model the uncertainty various soft computing methods such as Bayesian networks, rough sets, artificial neural networks, fuzzy logic, inductive logic programming and genetic algorithms and hybrid methods that formed from the combination of the few mentioned methods are used. In this study, symptom-disease relationships are presented by a framework which is modeled with a formal concept analysis and theory, as diseases, objects and attributes of symptoms. After a concept lattice is formed, Bayes theorem can be used to determine the relationships between attributes and objects. A discernibility relation that forms the base of the rough sets can be applied to attribute data sets in order to reduce attributes and decrease the complexity of computation.

Keywords: Formal Concept Analysis, Rough Set Theory, Granular Computing, Medical Decision Support System.

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Authors: S. Krustev, V. Angelova, P. Zaprjanova

Abstract:

Selenium (Se) is an essential micro-nutrient for human and animals but it is highly toxic. Its organic compounds play an important role in biochemistry and nutrition of the cells. Concentration levels of this element in the different regions of the world vary considerably. This study aimed to compare the availability and levels of the Se in some rural areas of the Balkan Peninsula and relationship with the concentrations of other trace elements. For this purpose soil samples and wheat grains from different regions of Bulgaria, Serbia, Nord Macedonia, Romania, and Greece situated far from large industrial centers have been analyzed. The main methods for their determination were the atomic spectral techniques – atomic absorption and plasma atomic emission. As a result of this study, data on microelements levels from the main grain-producing regions of the Balkan Peninsula were determined and systematized. The presented results confirm the low levels of Se in this region: 0.222– 0.962 mg.kg^-1 in soils and 0.001 - 0.005 mg.kg^-1 in wheat grains and require measures to offset the effect of this deficiency.

Keywords: Agricultural soils, Balkan Peninsula, rural areas, selenium.

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