Search results for: Building management

Authors: Elsheikh Asser

Abstract:

Time and cost are the main goals of the construction project management. The first schedule developed may not be a suitable schedule for beginning or completing the project to achieve the target completion time at a minimum total cost. In general, there are trade-offs between time and cost (TCT) to complete the activities of a project. This research presents genetic algorithms (GAs) multiobjective model for project scheduling considering different scenarios such as least cost, least time, and target time.

Keywords: Genetic algorithms, Time-cost trade-off.

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Authors: Carole Salis, Marie F. Wilson, Fabrizio Murgia, Cristian Lai, Franco Atzori, Giulia M. Orrù

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ANDASA is a knowledge management platform for the capitalization of knowledge and cultural assets for the artistic and cultural sectors. It was built based on the priorities expressed by the participating artists. Through mapping artistic activities and specificities, it enables to highlight various aspects of the artistic research and production. Such instrument will contribute to create networks and partnerships, as it enables to evidentiate who does what, in what field, using which methodology. The platform is accessible to network participants and to the general public.

Keywords: Cultural promotion, knowledge representation, cultural mapping, ICT.

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Authors: Itziar Marín, Eduardo Arceredillo, Aitzol Zuloaga, Jagoba Arias

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Distributed wireless sensor network consist on several scattered nodes in a knowledge area. Those sensors have as its only power supplies a pair of batteries that must let them live up to five years without substitution. That-s why it is necessary to develop some power aware algorithms that could save battery lifetime as much as possible. In this is document, a review of power aware design for sensor nodes is presented. As example of implementations, some resources and task management, communication, topology control and routing protocols are named.

Keywords: Low Power Design, Power Awareness, RemoteSensing, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN).

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Authors: Stefan Schmidt

Abstract:

Lean production (or lean management respectively) gained popularity in several waves. The last three decades have been filled with numerous attempts to apply these concepts in companies. However, this has only been partially successful. The roots of lean production can be traced back to Toyota-s just-in-time production. This concept, which according to Womack-s, Jones- and Roos- research at MIT was employed by Japanese car manufacturers, became popular under its international names “lean production", “lean-manufacturing" and was termed “Schlanke Produktion" in Germany. This contribution shows a review about lean production in Germany over the last thirty years: development, trial & error and implementation as well.

Keywords: Application, JIT, lean production, review, trial and error.

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Authors: P. Vel, H. Mubarak, M. A. Malak

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The elements for success in the service industry for many organizations have been studied and quantified. They range from effective performance evaluation and management to adequately implementing seven P’s. However, the success story of every organization is unique. What might work for one organization might not for another as every company is inherently distinctive. In this paper, the strategic framework behind the success of Liberty Automobiles Dubai is captured. The primary data necessary for this paper was collected through in-depth interviews with the managers for sales, service and marketing as well as the group general manager. Subsequently, the key areas that led to the success of Liberty Autos will be discussed in this paper.

Keywords: Services marketing, automotive retailing, and retailer success.

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Authors: Barbara Covarrubias Venegas, Sabine Groblschegg, Bernhard Klaus, Julia Domnanovich

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Research Objectives: The roles and activities of Human Resource Management (HRM) have changed a lot in the past years. Driven by a changing environment and therefore new business requirements, the scope of human resource (HR) activities has widened. The extent to which these activities should focus on strategic issues to support the long term success of a company has been discussed in science for many years. As many economies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) experienced a phase of transition after the socialist era and are now recovering from the 2008 global crisis it is needed to examine the current state of HR positioning. Furthermore a trend in HR work developing from rather administrative units to being strategic partners of management can be noticed. This leads to the question of better understanding the underlying competencies which are necessary to support organisations. This topic was addressed by the international study “HR Competencies in international comparison”. The quantitative survey was conducted by the Institute for Human Resources & Organisation of FHWien University of Applied Science of WKW (A) in cooperation with partner universities in the countries Bosnia- Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. Methodology: Using the questionnaire developed by Dave Ulrich we tested whether the HR Competency model can be used for Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. After performing confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis for the whole data set containing all five countries we could clearly distinguish between four competencies. In a further step our analysis focused on median and average comparisons between the HR competency dimensions. Conclusion: Our literature review, in alignment with other studies, shows a relatively rapid pace of development of HR Roles and HR Competencies in BCSS in the past decades. Comparing data from BCSS and Austria we still can notice that regards strategic orientation there is a lack in BCSS countries, thus competencies are not as developed as in Austria. This leads us to the tentative conclusion that HR has undergone a rapid change but is still in a State of Transition from being a rather administrative unit to performing the role of a strategic partner.

Keywords: Comparative study, HR competencies, HRM, HR Roles.

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Authors: Reiko Yamamoto

Abstract:

This paper reports on a project to integrate Japanese (as a first language) and English (as a second language) education. This study focuses on the mutual effects of the two languages on the linguistic proficiency of elementary school students. The research team consisted of elementary school teachers and researchers at a university. The participants of the experiment were students between 3^rd and 6^th grades at an elementary school. The research process consisted of seven steps: 1) specifying linguistic proficiency; 2) developing the cross-curriculum of L1 and L2; 3) forming can-do statements; 4) creating a self-evaluation questionnaire; 5) executing the self-evaluation questionnaire at the beginning of the school year; 6) instructing L1 and L2 based on the curriculum; and 7) executing the self-evaluation questionnaire at the beginning of the next school year. In Step 1, the members of the research team brainstormed ways to specify elementary school students’ linguistic proficiency that can be observed in various scenes. It was revealed that the teachers evaluate their students’ linguistic proficiency on the basis of the students’ utterances, but also informed by their non-verbal communication abilities. This led to the idea that competency for understanding others’ minds through the use of physical movement or bodily senses in communication in L1 – to sympathize with others – can be transferred to that same competency in communication in L2. Based on the specification of linguistic proficiency that L1 and L2 have in common, a cross-curriculum of L1 and L2 was developed in Step 2. In Step 3, can-do statements based on the curriculum were also formed, building off of the action-oriented approach from the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) used in Europe. A self-evaluation questionnaire consisting of the main can-do statements was given to the students between 3^rd grade and 6^th grade at the beginning of the school year (Step 4 and Step 5), and all teachers gave L1 and L2 instruction based on the curriculum to the students for one year (Step 6). The same questionnaire was given to the students at the beginning of the next school year (Step 7). The results of statistical analysis proved the enhancement of the students’ linguistic proficiency. This verified the validity of developing the cross-curriculum of L1 and L2 and adapting it in elementary school. It was concluded that elementary school students do not distinguish between L1 and L2, and that they just try to understand others’ minds through physical movement or senses in any language.

Keywords: Cross-curriculum of L1 and L2, elementary school education, language proficiency, sympathy with others.

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Authors: W. K. Yap, V. Karri

Abstract:

This paper presents a hybrid electric scooter model developed and simulated using Matlab/Simulink. This hybrid scooter modeled has a parallel hybrid structure. The main propulsion units consist of a two stroke internal combustion engine and a hub motor attached to the front wheel of the scooter. The methodology used to optimize the energy and fuel consumption of the hybrid electric scooter is the multi-mode approach. Various case studies were presented to check the model and were compared to the literatures. Results shown that the model developed was feasible and valuable.

Keywords: Hybrid electric scooters, modeling and simulation, hybrid scooter energy management.

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Authors: Mohammed Agbali, Claudia Trillo, Yusuf Arayici, Terrence Fernando

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The wide-spread adoption of the Smart City concept has introduced a new era of computing paradigm with opportunities for city administrators and stakeholders in various sectors to re-think the concept of urbanization and development of healthy cities. With the world population rapidly becoming urban-centric especially amongst the emerging economies, social innovation will assist greatly in deploying emerging technologies to address the development challenges in core sectors of the future cities. In this context, sustainable health-care delivery and improved quality of life of the people is considered at the heart of the healthy city agenda. This paper examines the Boston innovation landscape from the perspective of smart services and innovation ecosystem for sustainable development, especially in transportation and healthcare. It investigates the policy implementation process of the Healthy City agenda and eHealth economy innovation based on the experience of Massachusetts’s City of Boston initiatives. For this purpose, three emerging areas are emphasized, namely the eHealth concept, the innovation hubs, and the emerging technologies that drive innovation. This was carried out through empirical analysis on results of public sector and industry-wide interviews/survey about Boston’s current initiatives and the enabling environment. The paper highlights few potential research directions for service integration and social innovation for deploying emerging technologies in the healthy city agenda. The study therefore suggests the need to prioritize social innovation as an overarching strategy to build sustainable Smart Cities in order to avoid technology lock-in. Finally, it concludes that the Boston example of innovation economy is unique in view of the existing platforms for innovation and proper understanding of its dynamics, which is imperative in building smart and healthy cities where quality of life of the citizenry can be improved.

Keywords: Smart city, social innovation, eHealth, innovation hubs, emerging technologies, equitable healthcare, healthy cities.

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Authors: P. Ondee, S. Pannarunothai

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In Thailand, both the 1997 and the current 2007 Thai Constitutions have mentioned the establishment of independent organizations as a new mechanism to play a key role in proposing policy recommendations to national decision-makers in the interest of collective consumers. Over the last ten years, no independent organizations have yet been set up. Evidently, nobody could point out who should be key players in establishing provincial independent consumer bodies. The purpose of this study was to find definitive stakeholders in establishing and developing independent consumer bodies in a Thai context. This was a cross-sectional study between August and September 2007, using a postal questionnaire with telephone follow-up. The questionnaire was designed and used to obtain multiple stakeholder assessment of three key attributes (power, interest and influence). Study population was 153 stakeholders associated with policy decision-making, formulation and implementation processes of civil-based consumer protection in pilot provinces. The population covered key representatives from five sectors (academics, government officers, business traders, mass media and consumer networks) who participated in the deliberative forums at 10 provinces. A 49.7% response rate was achieved. Data were analyzed, comparing means of three stakeholder attributes and classification of stakeholder typology. The results showed that the provincial health officers were the definitive stakeholders as they had legal power, influence and interest in establishing and sustaining the independent consumer bodies. However, only a few key representatives of the provincial health officers expressed their own paradigm on the civil-based consumer protection. Most provincial health officers put their own standpoint of building civic participation at only a plan-implementation level. For effective policy implementation by the independent consumer bodies, the Thai government should provide budgetary support for the operation of the provincial health officers with their paradigm shift as well as their own clarified standpoint on corporate governance.

Keywords: Civic participation, civil society, consumerprotection, independent organization, policy decision-making, stakeholder analysis.

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Authors: HyoungMin Ham, JooSeok Song

Abstract:

RFID tag is a small and inexpensive microchip which is capable of transmitting unique identifier through wireless network in a short distance. If a group of RFID tags can be scanned simultaneously by one reader, RFID Group proof could be generated. Group proof can be used in various applications, such as good management which is usually achieved using barcode system. A lot of RFID group proof schemes have been proposed by many researchers. In this paper, we introduce some existing group proof schemes and then analyze their vulnerabilities to the privacy. Moreover, we propose a new attack model, which threats the privacy of user by tracking tags in a group.

Keywords: grouping proof, privacy, RFID, yoking proof

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Authors: Pang-Chieh Wang, Ting-Wei Hou, Jung-Hsuan Wu, Bo-Chiuan Chen

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In this paper we discuss on the security module for the car appliances to prevent stealing and illegal use on other cars. We proposed an open structure including authentication and encryption by embed a security module in each to protect car appliances. Illegal moving and use a car appliance with the security module without permission will lead the appliance to useless. This paper also presents the component identification and deal with relevant procedures. It is at low cost to recover from destroys by the burglar. Expect this paper to offer the new business opportunity to the automotive and technology industry.

Keywords: Automotive, component identification, electronic immobilizer, key management.

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Authors: K. Reitner, F. Staberhofer, W. Ortner, M. Gerschberger

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The purpose of this paper is to identify the main challenges faced by companies in the timber construction sector and to provide improvement opportunities that can be implemented on a short-, medium- and long-term basis. To identify the challenges and propose actions for each company a literature review and a multiple case research were conducted using the Quick Scan Audit Methodology. Finally, the findings and outcomes are compared with each other to support companies in the timer construction sector when implementing and restructuring their day-to-day activities.

Keywords: Supply chain management, supply chain challenges and opportunities, timber construction sector.

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Authors: Antonio Vitale, Nicola Genito, Giovanni Cuciniello, Ferdinando Montemari

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The introduction of tilt-rotor aircraft into the existing civilian air transportation system will provide beneficial effects due to tilt-rotor capability to combine the characteristics of a helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft into one vehicle. The disposability of reliable tilt-rotor simulation models supports the development of such vehicle. Indeed, simulation models are required to design automatic control systems that increase safety, reduce pilot's workload and stress, and ensure the optimal aircraft configuration with respect to flight envelope limits, especially during the most critical flight phases such as conversion from helicopter to aircraft mode and vice versa. This article presents a process to build a simplified tilt-rotor simulation model, derived from the analysis of flight data. The model aims to reproduce the complex dynamics of tilt-rotor during the in-flight conversion phase. It uses a set of scheduled linear transfer functions to relate the autopilot reference inputs to the most relevant rigid body state variables. The model also computes information about the rotor flapping dynamics, which are useful to evaluate the aircraft control margin in terms of rotor collective and cyclic commands. The rotor flapping model is derived through a mixed theoretical-empirical approach, which includes physical analytical equations (applicable to helicopter configuration) and parametric corrective functions. The latter are introduced to best fit the actual rotor behavior and balance the differences existing between helicopter and tilt-rotor during flight. Time-domain system identification from flight data is exploited to optimize the model structure and to estimate the model parameters. The presented model-building process was applied to simulated flight data of the ERICA Tilt-Rotor, generated by using a high fidelity simulation model implemented in FlightLab environment. The validation of the obtained model was very satisfying, confirming the validity of the proposed approach.

Keywords: Flapping Dynamics, Flight Dynamics, System Identification, Tilt-Rotor Modeling and Simulation.

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Authors: Traian Chiulan, Brandusa Pantelimon

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The paper analyzes the large power transformer unit regimes, indicating the criteria for the management of the voltage operating conditions, as well as the change in the operating conditions with the load connected to the secondary winding of the transformer unit. Further, the paper presents the software application for the evaluation of the transformer unit operation under different conditions. The software application was developed by means of virtual instrumentation.

Keywords: Operating regimes, power transformer, overload, lifetime, virtual instrumentation.

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Authors: A. Ionita, A. Zafiu, C. Ghita

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In this article, we present a web server based solution for implementing a system for intelligent navigation. In this solution we use real time collected data and traffic history to establish the best route for navigation. This is a low cost solution that is easily to implement and extend. There is no need any infrastructure at road network level except only a device that collect data about traffic in key road crossing. The presented solution creates a strong base for traffic pursuit and offers an infrastructure for navigation applications.

Keywords: navigation, real time, route, traffic pursuit, webservice.

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Authors: S. Swapna Kumar

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A Vehicular Ad-Hoc Network (VANET) is a mobile Ad-Hoc Network that provides connectivity moving device to fixed equipments. Such type of device is equipped with vehicle provides safety for the passengers. In the recent research areas of traffic management there observed the wide scope of design of new methodology of extension of wireless sensor networks and ad-hoc network principal for development of VANET technology. This paper provides the wide research view of the VANET and MANET concept for the researchers to contribute the better optimization technique for the development of effective and fast atomization technique for the large size of data exchange in this complex networks.

Keywords: Ad-Hoc, MANET, Sensors, Security, VANET

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Authors: Minyar Sassi, Amel Grissa-Touzi

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Appeared toward 1986, the object-oriented databases management systems had not known successes knew five years after their birth. One of the major difficulties is the query optimization. We propose in this paper a new approach that permits to enrich techniques of query optimization existing in the object-oriented databases. Seen success that knew the query optimization in the relational model, our approach inspires itself of these optimization techniques and enriched it so that they can support the new concepts introduced by the object databases.

Keywords: Query, query optimization, relational databases, object-oriented databases.

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Authors: Kiurski J., Marić B., Djaković V., Adamović S., Oros I., Krstić J.

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This paper presents the study of parameters affecting the environment protection in the printing industry. The paper has also compared LCA studies performed within the printing industry in order to identify common practices, limitations, areas for improvement, and opportunities for standardization. This comparison is focused on the data sources and methodologies used in the printing pollutants register. The presented concepts, methodology and results represent the contribution to the sustainable development management. Furthermore, the paper analyzes the result of the quantitative identification of hazardous substances emitted in printing industry of Novi Sad.

Keywords: LCA, parameters of pollution, printing industry, register

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Authors: Manar AlJazzazi, Mohammed Rawashdeh, Tariq Alshawaheen, Aktham Malkawi

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This paper is a part of research, in which the way the biomedical engineers follow in their work is analyzed. The goal of this paper is to present a method for specification of user requirements in the medical devices maintenance process. Data Gathering Methods, Research Model Phases and Descriptive Analysis is presented. These technology and verification rules can be implemented in Medical devices maintenance management process to the maintenance process.

Keywords: Quality Function Deployment (QFD), User - requirements approach.

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Authors: Sašo Pečnik, Borut Žalik

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This paper presents a real-time visualization technique and filtering of classified LiDAR point clouds. The visualization is capable of displaying filtered information organized in layers by the classification attribute saved within LiDAR datasets. We explain the used data structure and data management, which enables real-time presentation of layered LiDAR data. Real-time visualization is achieved with LOD optimization based on the distance from the observer without loss of quality. The filtering process is done in two steps and is entirely executed on the GPU and implemented using programmable shaders.

Keywords: Filtering, graphics, level-of-details, LiDAR, realtime visualization.

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Authors: Kelaiaia Mounia Samira, Labar Hocine, Bounaya Kamel, Kelaiaia Samia

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The development of the power electronics has allowed increasing the precision and reliability of the electrical trainings, thanks to the adjustable inverters, as the Pulse Wide Modulation (PWM) five level inverters, which is the object of study in this article.The authors treat the relation between the law order adopted for a given system and the oscillations of the electrical and mechanical parameters of which the tolerance depends on the process with which they are integrated (paper factory, lifting of the heavy loads, etc.).Thus the best choice of the regulation indexes allows us to achieve stability and safety training without investment (management of existing equipment).

Keywords: multi level inverter, PWM, Harmonics, oscillation, control

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Authors: Ilaha Rzayeva, Emin Alasgarov, Orkhan Karim-Zada

Abstract:

This study attempts to consider the linkage between management and computer sciences in order to develop the software named “IntelSymb” as a demo application to prove data analysis of non-energy^* fields’ diversification, which will positively influence on energy dependency mitigation of countries. Afterward, we analyzed 18 years of economic fields of development (5 sectors) of 13 countries by identifying which patterns mostly prevailed and which can be dominant in the near future. To make our analysis solid and plausible, as a future work, we suggest developing a gateway or interface, which will be connected to all available on-line data bases (WB, UN, OECD, U.S. EIA) for countries’ analysis by fields. Sample data consists of energy (TPES and energy import indicators) and non-energy industries’ (Main Science and Technology Indicator, Internet user index, and Sales and Production indicators) statistics from 13 OECD countries over 18 years (1995-2012). Our results show that the diversification of non-energy industries can have a positive effect on energy sector dependency (energy consumption and import dependence on crude oil) deceleration. These results can provide empirical and practical support for energy and non-energy industries diversification’ policies, such as the promoting of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), services and innovative technologies efficiency and management, in other OECD and non-OECD member states with similar energy utilization patterns and policies. Industries, including the ICT sector, generate around 4 percent of total GHG, but this is much higher — around 14 percent — if indirect energy use is included. The ICT sector itself (excluding the broadcasting sector) contributes approximately 2 percent of global GHG emissions, at just under 1 gigatonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2eq). Ergo, this can be a good example and lesson for countries which are dependent and independent on energy, and mainly emerging oil-based economies, as well as to motivate non-energy industries diversification in order to be ready to energy crisis and to be able to face any economic crisis as well.

Keywords: Energy policy, energy diversification, “IntelSymb” software, renewable energy.

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Authors: Excellence Favor, Bakari M. M. Mwinyiwiwa

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Access to information holds the key to the empowerment of everybody despite where they are living. This research has been carried out in respect of the people living in developing countries, considering their plight and complex geographical, demographic, social-economic conditions surrounding the areas they live, which hinder access to information and of professionals providing services such as medical workers, which has led to high death rates and development stagnation. Research on Unified Communications and Integrated Collaborations (UCIC) system in the health sector of developing countries aims at creating a possible solution of bridging the digital canyon among the communities. The system is meant to deliver services in a seamless manner to assist health workers situated anywhere to be accessed easily and access information which will enhance service delivery. The proposed UCIC provides the most immersive telepresence experience for one-to-one or many-to-many meetings. Extending to locations anywhere in the world, the transformative platform delivers Ultra-low operating costs through the use of general purpose networks and using special lenses and track systems. The essence of this study is to create a security model for the deployment of the UCIC system in the health sector of developing countries. The model approach used for building the UCIC system security carefully considers the specific requirements for the health sector environment organization such as data centre, national, regional and district hospitals, and health centers IV, III, II and I and then builds the single best possible secure network to meet their needs. The security model demonstrates on how the components of the UCIC system will be protected physically and logically in the health sector environment. The UCIC system once adopted and implemented correctly will bring enhancement to the speed and quality of services offered by health workers. The capacities of UCIC will help health workers shorten decision cycles, accelerate service delivery and save lives by speeding access to information and by making it possible for all health workers and patients to collaborate ubiquitously.

Keywords: Developing Countries, Health Sector Environment, Security, Unified Communications and Integrated Collaborations.

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Authors: V. Vassiliou, M. Charalambides, M. Menicou

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Fish-feed is a major cost component of operating expenses for any aquaculture farm. Due to soaring prices of fish-feed ingredients, the need for better feeding schedule management has become imperative. On such factor that influences the utilization rate of fish-feed are sea currents. Up to now, practical monitoring of fishfeed loss due to sea currents is not exercised. This paper gives a description of an economic methodology that aims at quantifying the amount of fish-feed lost due to sea currents and draws on data from a Mediterranean aquaculture farm to formulate the associated model.

Keywords: Aquaculture, economic model, fish-feed loss, sea currents.

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Authors: Yeung C.L., Cheung C.F., Wang W.M., Tsui E.

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Narratives are invaluable assets of human lives. Due to the distinct features of narratives, they are useful for supporting human reasoning processes. However, many useful narratives become residuals in organizations or human minds nowadays. Researchers have contributed effort to investigate and improve narrative generation processes. This paper attempts to contemplate essential components in narratives and explore a computational approach to acquire and extract knowledge to generate narratives. The methodology and significant benefit for decision support are presented.

Keywords: Decision Support, Knowledge Management, Knowledge-based Systems, Narrative Generation

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Authors: W. Mughees, M. Al-Ahmad, M. Naeem

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This research involves the design and analysis of pinch-based water/wastewater networks to minimize water utility in the petrochemical and petroleum industries. A study has been done on Tehran Oil Refinery to analyze feasibilities of regeneration, reuse and recycling of water network. COD is considered as a single key contaminant. Amount of freshwater was reduced about 149m3/h (43.8%) regarding COD. Re-design (or retrofitting) of water allocation in the networks was undertaken. The results were analyzed through graphical method and mathematical programming technique which clearly demonstrated that amount of required water would be determined by mass transfer of COD.

Keywords: Minimization, Water Pinch, Water Management, Pollution Prevention.

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Authors: Kyomin Lee, Joohee Kim, Sangho Kang

Abstract:

The commercial nuclear power reactor in South Korea, Kori Unit 1, which was a 587 MWe pressurized water reactor that started operation since 1978, was permanently shut down in June 2017 without an additional operating license extension. The Kori 1 Unit is scheduled to become the nuclear power unit to enter the decommissioning phase. In this study, the preliminary evaluation of the decommissioning wastes for the Kori Unit 1 was performed based on the following series of process: firstly, the plant inventory is investigated based on various documents (i.e., equipment/ component list, construction records, general arrangement drawings). Secondly, the radiological conditions of systems, structures and components (SSCs) are established to estimate the amount of radioactive waste by waste classification. Third, the waste management strategies for Kori Unit 1 including waste packaging are established. Forth, selection of the proper decontamination and dismantling (D&D) technologies is made considering the various factors. Finally, the amount of decommissioning waste by classification for Kori 1 is estimated using the DeCAT program, which was developed by KEPCO-E&C for a decommissioning cost estimation. The preliminary evaluation results have shown that the expected amounts of decommissioning wastes were less than about 2% and 8% of the total wastes generated (i.e., sum of clean wastes and radwastes) before/after waste processing, respectively, and it was found that the majority of contaminated material was carbon or alloy steel and stainless steel. In addition, within the range of availability of information, the results of the evaluation were compared with the results from the various decommissioning experiences data or international/national decommissioning study. The comparison results have shown that the radioactive waste amount from Kori Unit 1 decommissioning were much less than those from the plants decommissioned in U.S. and were comparable to those from the plants in Europe. This result comes from the difference of disposal cost and clearance criteria (i.e., free release level) between U.S. and non-U.S. The preliminary evaluation performed using the methodology established in this study will be useful as a important information in establishing the decommissioning planning for the decommissioning schedule and waste management strategy establishment including the transportation, packaging, handling, and disposal of radioactive wastes.

Keywords: Characterization, classification, decommissioning, decontamination and dismantling, Kori 1, radioactive waste.

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Authors: Kriddikorn Kaewwongsri, Nikom Suvonvorn

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In the deep south of Thailand, checkpoints for people verification are necessary for the security management of risk zones, such as official buildings in the conflict area. In this paper, we propose an automatic checkpoint system that verifies persons using information from ID cards and facial features. The methods for a person’s information abstraction and verification are introduced based on useful information such as ID number and name, extracted from official cards, and facial images from videos. The proposed system shows promising results and has a real impact on the local society.

Keywords: Face comparison, card recognition, OCR, checkpoint system, authentication.

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Authors: Hisham Mortada

Abstract:

Transition in the urban configuration of Arab cities has never been as radical and visible as it has been since the turn of the last century. The emergence of new cities near historical settlements of Arabia has spawned a series of developments in and around the old city precincts. New developments are based on advanced technology and conform to globally prevalent standards of city planning, superseding the vernacular arrangements based on traditional norms that guided so-called ‘city planning’. Evidence to this fact are the extant Arab buildings present at the urban core of modern cities, which inform us about intricate spatial organization. Organization that subscribed to multiple norms such as, satisfying gender segregation and socialization, economic sustainability, and ensuring security and environmental coherence etc., within settlement compounds. Several participating factors achieved harmony in such an inclusive city—an organization that was challenged and apparently replaced by the new planning order in the face of growing needs of globalized, economy-centric and high-tech models of development. Communities found it difficult to acclimatize with the new western planning models that were implemented at a very large scale throughout the Kingdom, which later experienced spatial re-structuring to suit users’ needs. A closer look the ancient city of Yanbu, now flanked with such new developments, allows us to differentiate and track the beginnings of this unprecedented transition in settlement formations. This paper aims to elaborate the Arabian context offered to both the ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ planning approaches, in order to understand challenges and solutions offered by both at different times. In the process it will also establish the inconsistencies and conflicts that arose with the shift in planning paradigm, from traditional-'cultural norms’, to modern-'physical planning', in the Arabian context. Thus, by distinguishing the two divergent planning philosophies, their impact of the Arabian morphology, relevance to lifestyle and suitability to the biophysical environment, it concludes with a perspective on sustainability particularly for in case of Yanbu.

Keywords: Yanbu, traditional architecture, Hijaz, coral building, Saudi Arabia.

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