Search results for: social factors

Authors: A. Leśniak, E. Plebankiewicz, K. Zima

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Construction projects can be implemented under various contractual and organizational systems. They can be divided into two groups: systems without the managing company where the Client manages the process, and systems with the managing company, where management is entrusted to an external company. In the public sector of the Polish market there are two ways of delivery of construction projects with the participation of the manager: one is to assign operations to another party, the so called Project Supervisor, whilst the other results from the application of FIDIC conditions of contract, which entail appointment of the Engineer. The decision is to be made by the Client and depends on various factors. On the public procurement market in Poland the selection of construction project manager boils down to awarding the contract for such a service. The selection can be done by one of eight public procurement procedures identified by the procurement law. The paper provides the analysis of 96 contracts for services awarded in 2011, which employed construction management. The study aimed to investigate the methods and criteria for selecting managers, applied in practice by the Polish public Clients.

Keywords: construction management, construction services, methods and criteria of tender selection, public procurement

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Authors: Kyoungwoo Park, Chol-Ho Hong, Ji-Won Han, Byeong-Sam Kim, Cha-Sik Park, Oh Kyung Kwon

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Numerical analysis of flow characteristics and separation efficiency in a high-efficiency cyclone has been performed. Several models based on the experimental observation for a design purpose were proposed. However, the model is only estimated the cyclone's performance under the limited environments; it is difficult to obtain a general model for all types of cyclones. The purpose of this study is to find out the flow characteristics and separation efficiency numerically. The Reynolds stress model (RSM) was employed instead of a standard k-ε or a k-ω model which was suitable for isotropic turbulence and it could predict the pressure drop and the Rankine vortex very well. For small particles, there were three significant components (entrance of vortex finder, cone, and dust collector) for the particle separation. In the present work, the particle re-entraining phenomenon from the dust collector to the cyclone body was observed after considerable time. This re-entrainment degraded the separation efficiency and was one of the significant factors for the separation efficiency of the cyclone.

Keywords: CFD, High-efficiency cyclone, Pressure drop, Rankine vortex, Reynolds stress model (RSM), Separation efficiency.

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Authors: Chin-Jung Lin, Yi-Hsien Yu, Szu-Ying Chen, Ya-Hsuan Liou

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Highly ordered arrays of TiO2 nanotubes (TiNTs) were grown vertically on Ti foil by electrochemical anodization. We controlled the lengths of these TiNTs from 2.4 to 26.8 ¶üÇóμm while varying the water contents (1, 3, and 6 wt%) of the electrolyte in ethylene glycol in the presence of 0.5 wt% NH4F with anodization for various applied voltages (20–80 V), periods (10–240 min) and temperatures (10–30 oC). For vertically aligned TiNT arrays, not only the increase in their tube lengths, but also their geometric (wall thickness and surface roughness) and crystalline structure lead to a significant influence on photocatalytic activity. The length optimization for methylene blue (MB) photodegradation was 18 μm. Further extending the TiNT length yielded lower photocatalytic activity presumably related to the limited MB diffusion and light-penetration depth into the TiNT arrays. The results indicated that a maximum MB photodegradation rate was obtained for the discrete anatase TiO2 nanotubes with thick and rough walls.

Keywords: Anodic oxidation, nanotube, photocatalytic, TiO2.

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Authors: D. S. C. Soares, D. G. Costa, J. T. S., A. K. S. Abud, T. P. Nunes, A. M. Oliveira Júnior

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Mathematical models of drying are used for the purpose of understanding the drying process in order to determine important parameters for design and operation of the dryer. The jackfruit is a fruit with high consumption in the Northeast and perishability. It is necessary to apply techniques to improve their conservation for longer in order to diffuse it by regions with low consumption. This study aimed to analyze several mathematical models (Page, Lewis, and Midilli) to indicate one that best fits the conditions of convective drying process using performance indicators associated with each model: accuracy (Af) and noise factors (Bf), mean square error (RMSE) and standard error of prediction (% SEP). Jackfruit drying was carried out in convective type tray dryer at a temperature of 50°C for 9 hours. It is observed that the model Midili was more accurate with Af: 1.39, Bf: 1.33, RMSE: 0.01%, and SEP: 5.34. However, the use of the Model Midilli is not appropriate for purposes of control process due to need four tuning parameters. With the performance indicators used in this paper, the Page model showed similar results with only two parameters. It is concluded that the best correlation between the experimental and estimated data is given by the Page’s model.

Keywords: Drying, models, jackfruit.

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Authors: Mongezi Nene, Emma Ayesu-Koranteng, Christopher Amoah, Ayo Adeniran

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Although its use has been criticised over the years as being unencouraging, the green building concept is quickly overtaking other concepts, particularly in the construction of commercial properties. The goal of the study is to identify the variables influencing the use of green building practices when developing residential structures. A qualitative methodology, using interviews with semi-structured open-ended questions to 35 property practitioners operating residential apartments in Bloemfontein, South Africa, was used to collect primary data which were analysed using thematic content analysis. The findings show that while respondents have a good understanding of green building principles, they are not being used in the construction of residential buildings in South Africa due to issues with green building approval procedures, the potential for tenant rent increases, the cost of materials, technical issues, contractual issues, and a lack of awareness, among others. This paper recommends among others an urgent need to implement measures by stakeholders towards enhancing the adoption of green building concepts in the construction of residential buildings as well as incentivising its construction through lowered property rates.

Keywords: Green building, residential apartments, construction, South Africa.

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Authors: Tahseen A. Jilani, S. M. Aqil Burney, C. Ardil

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In this paper, we have presented a new multivariate fuzzy time series forecasting method. This method assumes mfactors with one main factor of interest. History of past three years is used for making new forecasts. This new method is applied in forecasting total number of car accidents in Belgium using four secondary factors. We also make comparison of our proposed method with existing methods of fuzzy time series forecasting. Experimentally, it is shown that our proposed method perform better than existing fuzzy time series forecasting methods. Practically, actuaries are interested in analysis of the patterns of causalities in road accidents. Thus using fuzzy time series, actuaries can define fuzzy premium and fuzzy underwriting of car insurance and life insurance for car insurance. National Institute of Statistics, Belgium provides region of risk classification for each road. Thus using this risk classification, we can predict premium rate and underwriting of insurance policy holders.

Keywords: Average forecasting error rate (AFER), Fuzziness offuzzy sets Fuzzy, If-Then rules, Multivariate fuzzy time series.

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Authors: H. Dardour, S. Mazouz, A. Bellagi

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For many industrial applications plate heat exchangers are demonstrating a large superiority over the other types of heat exchangers. The efficiency of such a device depends on numerous factors the effect of which needs to be analysed and accurately evaluated. In this paper we present a theoretical analysis of a cocurrent plate heat exchanger and the results of its numerical simulation. Knowing the hot and the cold fluid streams inlet temperatures, the respective heat capacities mCp and the value of the overall heat transfer coefficient, a 1-D mathematical model based on the steady flow energy balance for a differential length of the device is developed resulting in a set of N first order differential equations with boundary conditions where N is the number of channels.For specific heat exchanger geometry and operational parameters, the problem is numerically solved using the shooting method. The simulation allows the prediction of the temperature map in the heat exchanger and hence, the evaluation of its performances. A parametric analysis is performed to evaluate the influence of the R-parameter on the e-NTU values. For practical purposes effectiveness-NTU graphs are elaborated for specific heat exchanger geometry and different operating conditions.

Keywords: Plate heat exchanger, thermal performance, NTU, effectiveness.

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Authors: P. R. Prabhu, S. M. Kulkarni, S. S. Sharma

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Deep cold rolling (DCR) is a cold working process, which easily produces a smooth and work-hardened surface by plastic deformation of surface irregularities. In the present study, the influence of main deep cold rolling process parameters on the surface roughness and the hardness of AISI 4140 steel were studied by using fractional factorial design of experiments. The assessment of the surface integrity aspects on work material was done, in terms of identifying the predominant factor amongst the selected parameters, their order of significance and setting the levels of the factors for minimizing surface roughness and/or maximizing surface hardness. It was found that the ball diameter, rolling force, initial surface roughness and number of tool passes are the most pronounced parameters, which have great effects on the work piece-s surface during the deep cold rolling process. A simple, inexpensive and newly developed DCR tool, with interchangeable collet for using different ball diameters, was used throughout the experimental work presented in this paper.

Keywords: Deep cold rolling, design of experiments, surface hardness, surface roughness

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Authors: Carmen E. Zapata, José F. Jiménez, Mauricio Ramiréz, Natalia A. Cano

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The majority of the urban areas in Latin America face the challenges associated with city planning and development problems, attributed to human, technical, and economical factors; therefore, we cannot ignore the issues related to climate change because the city modifies the natural landscape in a significant way transforming the radiation balance and heat content in the urbanized areas. These modifications provoke changes in the temperature distribution known as “the heat island effect”. According to this phenomenon, we have the need to conceive the urban planning based on climatological patterns that will assure its sustainable functioning, including the particularities of the climate variability. In the present study, it is identified the Local Climate Zones (LCZ) in the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley (Colombia) with the objective of relocate the air quality monitoring stations as a partial solution to the problem of how to measure representative air quality levels in a city for a local scale, but with instruments that measure in the microscale.

Keywords: Air quality, monitoring, local climatic zones, valley, monitoring stations.

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Authors: Ali Faal Ghayoumi, Mahmoud Dehghan Nayeri, Manouchehre Ansari, Taha Raeesi

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This study aims to investigate empirically the valuerelevance of accounting information to domestic investors in Tehran stock exchange from 1999 to 2006. During the present research impacts of two factors, including positive vs. negative earnings and the firm size are considered as well. The authors used earnings per share and annual change of earnings per share as the income statement indices, and book value of equity per share as the balance sheet index. Return and Price models through regression analysis are deployed in order to test the research hypothesis. Results depicted that accounting information is value-relevance to domestic investors in Tehran Stock Exchange according to both studied models. However, income statement information has more value-relevance than the balance sheet information. Furthermore, positive vs. negative earnings and firm size seems to have significant impact on valuerelevance of accounting information.

Keywords: Value-Relevance of Accounting Information, Iranianstock exchange, Return Model, Price Model

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Authors: Ritvik Chauhan, Vijay Kumar Baraik

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Women are most vulnerable to crime despite occupying central position in shaping a society as the first teacher of children. In India too, having equal rights and constitutional safeguards, the incidences of crime against them are large and grave. In this context of crime against women, especially rape has been increasing over time. This paper explores the spatial and temporal aspects of crime against women in India with special reference to rape. It also examines the crime against women with its spatial, socio-economic and demographic associates using related data obtained from the National Crime Records Bureau India, Indian Census and other government sources of the Government of India. The simple statistical, choropleth mapping and other cartographic representation methods have been used to see the crime rates, spatio-temporal patterns of crime, and association of crime with its correlates.  The major findings are visible spatial variations across the country and are also in the rising trends in terms of incidence and rates over the reference period. The study also indicates that the geographical associations are somewhat observed. However, selected indicators of socio-economic factors seem to have no significant bearing on crime against women at this level.

Keywords: Crime against women, crime mapping, trend analysis.

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Authors: Tung-Liang Chen, Ming - Yi Huang, Tchiu-Hui Su

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This study investigates the relationships between Work Motivation, Work Stress, and Job Satisfaction toward cross-strait employees. The target subjects are three manufacturing firms in Mainland China and Taiwan. Out of 450 distributed surveys, 352 valid surveys were obtained with the response rate of 78.22%.The findings have addressed three main pull factors toward cross-strait employees in choosing jobs, which are (1) high level of firm stability, (2) good firm image, and (3) good employee benefits. In addition, various employee attributes exert different impacts on Work Motivation, Work Stress, and Job Satisfaction. The comparison between expected and actual perceived Job Satisfaction toward cross-strait employees shows that “salary" ranks highest regarding expected Job Satisfaction whereas “co-worker relationship" ranks highest regarding actual perceived Job Satisfaction, which implies actual perceived Job Satisfaction do not match employee expectations. Therefore, this research further concludes that there exists differences between employees- expected and actual perceived Job Satisfaction.

Keywords: Cross-strait, job satisfaction, work motivation, work stress

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Authors: Dhruv Sharma, Lynne Blair, Stephen Clune

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Later life loneliness is a social issue that is increasing alongside an upward global population trend. As a society, one way that we have responded to this social challenge is through developing non-pharmacological interventions such as befriending services, activity clubs, meet-ups, etc. Through a systematic literature review, this paper suggests that currently there is an underrepresentation of radical innovation, and underutilization of digital technologies in developing loneliness interventions for older adults. This paper examines intervention studies that were published in English language, within peer reviewed journals between January 2005 and December 2014 across 4 electronic databases. In addition to academic databases, interventions found in grey literature in the form of websites, blogs, and Twitter were also included in the overall review. This approach yielded 129 interventions that were included in the study. A systematic approach allowed the minimization of any bias dictating the selection of interventions to study. A coding strategy based on a pattern analysis approach was devised to be able to compare and contrast the loneliness interventions. Firstly, interventions were categorized on the basis of their objective to identify whether they were preventative, supportive, or remedial in nature. Secondly, depending on their scope, they were categorized as one-to-one, community-based, or group based. It was also ascertained whether interventions represented an improvement, an incremental innovation, a major advance or a radical departure, in comparison to the most basic form of a loneliness intervention. Finally, interventions were also assessed on the basis of the extent to which they utilized digital technologies. Individual visualizations representing the four levels of coding were created for each intervention, followed by an aggregated visual to facilitate analysis. To keep the inquiry within scope and to present a coherent view of the findings, the analysis was primarily concerned the level of innovation, and the use of digital technologies. This analysis highlights a weak but positive correlation between the level of innovation and the use of digital technologies in designing and deploying loneliness interventions, and also emphasizes how certain existing interventions could be tweaked to enable their migration from representing incremental innovation to radical innovation for example. This analysis also points out the value of including grey literature, especially from Twitter, in systematic literature reviews to get a contemporary view of latest work in the area under investigation.

Keywords: Loneliness, ageing, innovation, digital.

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Authors: Valeria Tatano, Francesca Guidolin, Francesca Peltrera

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The preservation of historical Italian heritage, at the urban and architectural scale, has to consider restrictions and requirements connected with conservation issues and usability needs, which are often at odds with historical heritage preservation. Recent decades have been marked by the search for increased accessibility not only of public and private buildings, but to the whole historical city, also for people with disability. Moreover, in the last years the concepts of Smart City and Healthy City seek to improve accessibility both in terms of mobility (independent or assisted) and fruition of goods and services, also for historical cities. The principles of Inclusive Design have introduced new criteria for the improvement of public urban space, between current regulations and best practices. Moreover, they have contributed to transforming “special needs” into an opportunity of social innovation. These considerations find a field of research and analysis in the historical city of Venice, which is at the same time a site of UNESCO world heritage, a mass tourism destination bringing in visitors from all over the world and a city inhabited by an aging population. Due to its conformation, Venetian urban fabric is only partially accessible: about four thousand bridges divide thousands of islands, making it almost impossible to move independently. These urban characteristics and difficulties were the base, in the last 20 years, for several researches, experimentations and solutions with the aim of eliminating architectural barriers, in particular for the usability of bridges. The Venetian Municipality with the EBA Office and some external consultants realized several devices (e.g. the “stepped ramp” and the new accessible ramps for the Venice Marathon) that should determine an innovation for the city, passing from the use of mechanical replicable devices to specific architectural projects in order to guarantee autonomy in use. This paper intends to present the state-of-the-art in bridges accessibility, through an analysis based on Inclusive Design principles and on the current national and regional regulation. The purpose is to evaluate some possible strategies that could improve performances, between limits and possibilities of interventions. The aim of the research is to lay the foundations for the development of a strategic program for the City of Venice that could successfully bring together both conservation and improvement requirements.

Keywords: Accessibility and inclusive design, historical heritage preservation, technological and social innovation.

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Authors: Emad Amar, Tawfik Khattab, Fatma Zada

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Predicting earthquakes is an important issue in the study of geography. Accurate prediction of earthquakes can help people to take effective measures to minimize the loss of personal and economic damage, such as large casualties, destruction of buildings and broken of traffic, occurred within a few seconds. United States Geological Survey (USGS) science organization provides reliable scientific information about Earthquake Existed throughout history & the Preliminary database from the National Center Earthquake Information (NEIC) show some useful factors to predict an earthquake in a seismic area like Aleutian Arc in the U.S. state of Alaska. The main advantage of this prediction method that it does not require any assumption, it makes prediction according to the future evolution of the object's time series. The article compares between simulation data result from trained BP and RBF neural network versus actual output result from the system calculations. Therefore, this article focuses on analysis of data relating to real earthquakes. Evaluation results show better accuracy and higher speed by using radial basis functions (RBF) neural network.

Keywords: BP neural network, Prediction, RBF neural network.

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Authors: Mohsen Pirdashti, Arezou Ghadi, Mehrdad Mohammadi, Gholamreza Shojatalab

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Chemical industry project management involves complex decision making situations that require discerning abilities and methods to make sound decisions. Project managers are faced with decision environments and problems in projects that are complex. In this work, case study is Research and Development (R&D) project selection. R&D is an ongoing process for forward thinking technology-based chemical industries. R&D project selection is an important task for organizations with R&D project management. It is a multi-criteria problem which includes both tangible and intangible factors. The ability to make sound decisions is very important to success of R&D projects. Multiple-criteria decision making (MCDM) approaches are major parts of decision theory and analysis. This paper presents all of MCDM approaches for use in R&D project selection. It is hoped that this work will provide a ready reference on MCDM and this will encourage the application of the MCDM by chemical engineering management.

Keywords: Chemical Engineering, R&D Project, MCDM, Selection.

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Authors: T. Venkata Rama Krishna, P. Siddaiah, B. Prabhakara Rao

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This paper presented a theoretical and numerical investigation of the Compact Antenna Test Range (CATR) equipped with Super Hybrid Modulated Segmented Exponential Serrations (SHMSES). The investigation was based on diffraction theory and, more specifically, the Fresnel diffraction formulation. The CATR provides uniform illumination within the Fresnel region to test antenna. Application of serrated edges has been shown to be a good method to control diffraction at the edges of the reflectors. However, in order to get some insight into the positive effect of serrated edges a less rigorous analysis technique known as Physical Optics (PO) may be used. Ripple free and enhanced quiet zone width are observed for specific values of width and height modulation factors per serrations. The performance of SHMSE serrated reflector is evaluated in order to observe the effects of edge diffraction on the test zone fields.

Keywords: Fresnel region, quiet zone, physical optics, ripples, serrations.

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Authors: P. N. Hrisheekesha, Jaydev Sharma

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In this paper, a method based on Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA) has been presented for the Volt / Var control in power distribution systems with dispersed generation (DG). Genetic algorithm approach is used due to its broad applicability, ease of use and high accuracy. The proposed method is better suited for volt/var control problems. A multi-objective optimization problem has been formulated for the volt/var control of the distribution system. The non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm based method proposed in this paper, alleviates the problem of tuning the weighting factors required in solving the multi-objective volt/var control optimization problems. Based on the simulation studies carried out on the distribution system, the proposed scheme has been found to be simple, accurate and easy to apply to solve the multiobjective volt/var control optimization problem of the distribution system with dispersed generation.

Keywords: Dispersed Generation, Distribution System, Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm, Voltage / Reactive powercontrol.

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Authors: Bhawat Chiamjinnawat

Abstract:

The agri-food market transformation has implied market growth for the fruit industry in Thailand. This article focuses on analysis of farmer competence and farm resources which affect market strategies used by fruit farmers in Chanthaburi province of Thailand. The survey data were collected through the use of face-to-face interviews with structured questionnaires. This study identified 14 drivers related to farmer competence and farm resources of which some had significant effect on the decision to use either high-value markets or traditional markets. The results suggest that farmers who used high-value markets were better educated and they had longer experience and larger sized business. Identifying the important factors that match with the market transformation provides policy with opportunities to support the fruit farmers to increase their market power. Policies that promote business expansion of agricultural cooperatives and knowledge sharing among farmers are recommended to reduce limitations due to limited knowledge, low experience, and small business sizes.

Keywords: Farmer competence, farm resources, fruit industry, high-value markets, Thailand.

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Authors: Shan-Jen Cheng, Jr-Ming Miao, Sheng-Ju Wu

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The purpose of this paper is applied Taguchi method on the optimization for PEMFC performance, and a representative Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model is selectively performed for statistical analysis. The studied factors in this paper are pressure of fuel cell, operating temperature, the relative humidity of anode and cathode, porosity of gas diffusion electrode (GDE) and conductivity of GDE. The optimal combination for maximum power density is gained by using a three-level statistical method. The results confirmed that the robustness of the optimum design parameters influencing the performance of fuel cell are founded by pressure of fuel cell, 3atm; operating temperature, 353K; the relative humidity of anode, 50%; conductivity of GDE, 1000 S/m, but the relative humidity of cathode and porosity of GDE are pooled as error due to a small sum of squares. The present simulation results give designers the ideas ratify the effectiveness of the proposed robust design methodology for the performance of fuel cell.

Keywords: PEMFC, numerical simulation, optimization, Taguchi method.

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Authors: Leila Maleki, Ezatollah Ahmadi

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Neuroplasticity or the flexibility of the neural system is the ability of the brain to adapt to the lack or deterioration of sense and the capability of the neural system to modify itself through changing shape and function. Not only have studies revealed that neuroplasticity does not end in childhood, but also they have proven that it continues till the end of life and is not limited to the neural system and covers the cognitive system as well. In the field of cognition, neuroplasticity is defined as the ability to change old thoughts according to new conditions and the individuals' differences in using various styles of cognitive regulation inducing several social, emotional and cognitive outcomes. This paper attempts to discuss and define major theories and principles of neuroplasticity and elaborate on nature or nurture.

Keywords: Neuroplasticity, Cognitive plasticity, Plasticity theories, Plasticity mechanisms.

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Authors: Adile Shaqiri, Arjeta Shaqiri Latifi

Abstract:

Domestic violence, trafficking with human beings especially violence against children, is a worldwide problem. Hence, it remains one of the most widespread forms of violence in Kosovo and which often continues to be described as a "closed door issue". Recognition, acceptance and prioritization of cases of domestic violence definitely require a much greater awareness of individuals in institutions for the risks, consequences and costs that the lack of such a well-coordinated response brings to the country. Considering that children are the future and the wealth of the country, violence and neglect against them should be treated as carefully as possible. The purpose of this paper is to identify steps towards prevention of the domestic violence and trafficking with human beings, so that the reflection of the consequences and the psychological flow do not reflect to a large extent in society. In this study is described: How is the phenomenon of domestic violence related to trafficking in human beings? The methods used are: historical, comparative, qualitative. Data derived from the relevant institutions were presented, i.e., by the actors who are the first reactors as well as the policy makers. Although these phenomena are present in all countries of the world, Kosovo is no exception and therefore comparisons of the development of child abuse have been made with other countries in the region as well. Since Kosovo is a country in transition, a country with a relatively high level of education, low economic development, high unemployment, political instability, dysfunctional legal infrastructure, it can be concluded that the potential for the development of negative phenomena is present and inevitable. Thus, during the research, the stages of development of these phenomena are analyzed, determining the causes and consequences which come from abuse, neglect of children and the impact on trafficking in human beings. The Kosovar family (parental responsibility), culture and religion, social services, the dignity of the abused child, etc. were analyzed. The review was also done on the legislation, educational institutions (curricula), governmental and non-governmental institutions their responsibilities and cooperation towards combating child abuse and trafficking. It is worth noting that during the work on paper, recommendations and conclusions have been drawn where it is concluded that we need an environment with educational reforms, stability in the political environment, economic development, a review of social policies, greater awareness of society, more adequate information through media, so that information and awareness could penetrate even in the most remote places of Kosovo society.

Keywords: Awareness, education, information, society, violence.

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Authors: Akira Kanaoka, Eiji Okamoto

Abstract:

Mass-mail type worms have threatened to become a large problem for the Internet. Although many researchers have analyzed such worms, there are few studies that consider worm propagation via mailing lists. In this paper, we present a mass-mailing type worm propagation model including the mailing list effect on the propagation. We study its propagation by simulation with a real e¬mail social network model. We show that the impact of the mailing list on the mass-mail worm propagation is significant, even if the mailing list is not large.

Keywords: Malware, simulation, complex networks

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Authors: Zainal Abidin Akasah, Maizam Alias, Azuin Ramli

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The safety and health performances aspects of a building are the most challenging aspect of facility management. It requires a deep understanding by the building managers on the factors that contribute to health and safety performances. This study attempted to develop an explanatory architectural safety performance model for stratified low-cost housing in Malaysia. The proposed Building Safety and Health Performance (BSHP) model was tested empirically through a survey on 308 construction practitioners using partial least squares (PLS) and structural equation modelling (SEM) tool. Statistical analysis results supports the conclusion that architecture, building services, external environment, management approaches and maintenance management have positive influence on safety and health performance of stratified low-cost housing in Malaysia. The findings provide valuable insights for construction industry to introduce BSHP model in the future where the model could be used as a guideline for training purposes of managers and better planning and implementation of building management.

Keywords: Building management, stratified low-cost housing, Safety and health model

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Authors: Emmanuel Selase Asamoah, Miloslava Chovancová

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When choosing marketing strategies for international markets, one of the factors that should be considered is the cultural differences that exist among consumers in different countries. If the branding strategy has to be contextual and in tune with the culture, then the brand positioning variables has to interact, adapt and respond to the cultural variables in which the brand is operating. This study provides an overview of the relevance of culture in the development of an effective branding strategy in the international business environment. Hence, the main objective of this study is to provide a managerial framework for developing strategies for cross cultural brand management. The framework is useful because it incorporates the variables that are important in the competitiveness of fast food enterprises irrespective of their size. It provides practical, proactive and result oriented analysis that will help fast food firms augment their strategies in the international fast food markets. The proposed framework will enable managers understand the intricacies involved in branding in the global fast food industry and decrease the use of 'trial and error' when entering into unfamiliar markets.

Keywords: culture, branding strategy, marketing mix, mass customization, standardization

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Authors: Yilun Shang

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In this paper, we investigate the appearance of the giant component in random subgraphs G(p) of a given large finite graph family Gn = (Vn, En) in which each edge is present independently with probability p. We show that if the graph Gn satisfies a weak isoperimetric inequality and has bounded degree, then the probability p under which G(p) has a giant component of linear order with some constant probability is bounded away from zero and one. In addition, we prove the probability of abnormally large order of the giant component decays exponentially. When a contact graph is modeled as Gn, our result is of special interest in the study of the spread of infectious diseases or the identification of community in various social networks.

Keywords: subgraph, expander, random graph, giant component, percolation.

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Authors: Suthawan Chirapanda

Abstract:

International trade involves both large and small firms engaged in business overseas. Possible drivers that force companies to enter international markets include increasing competition at the domestic market, maturing domestic markets, and limited domestic market opportunities. Technology is an important driving factor in shaping international marketing strategy as well as in driving force towards a more global marketplace, especially technology in communication. It includes telephones, the internet, computer systems and e-mail. There are three main marketing strategy choices, namely standardization approach, adaptation approach and middleof- the-road approach that companies implement to overseas markets. The decision depends on situations and factors facing the companies in the international markets. In this paper, the contingency concept is considered that no single strategy can be effective in all contexts. The effect of strategy on performance depends on specific situational variables. Strategic fit is employed to investigate export marketing strategy adaptation under certain environmental conditions, which in turn can lead to superior performance.

Keywords: Contingency approach, international marketing strategy, strategic fit, technological environment

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Authors: Bubpha Makesrithongkum

Abstract:

The objectives of this research were 1) to study the opinions of newspaper journalists about their trustworthiness in the National Press Council of Thailand (NPCT) and the NPCT-s success in regulating the professional ethics; and 2) to study the differences among mean vectors of the variables of trustworthiness in the NPCT and opinions on the NPCT-s success in regulating professional ethics among samples working at different work positions and from different affiliation of newspaper organizations. The results showed that 1) Interaction effects between the variables of work positions and affiliation were not statistically significant at the confidence level of 0.05. 2) There was a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) in the views of journalists (reporters, heads of news desks and editors) at newspapers in the Bangkok metropolis and at local newspapers in other regions regarding their level of trustworthiness in the NPCT-s fulfillment of its duty to regulate professional ethics.

Keywords: National Press Council of Thailand, newspaper journalists, regulation of newspaper professional ethics, trustworthiness and success in fulfilling duties.

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Authors: Faraj Farhat El Dabee, Rajab Abdullah Hokoma

Abstract:

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is the integration between manufacturer, transporter and customer in order to form one seamless chain that allows smooth flow of raw materials, information and products throughout the entire network that help in minimizing all related efforts and costs. The main objective of this paper is to develop a model that can accept a specified number of spare-parts within the supply chain, simulating its inventory operations throughout all stages in order to minimize the inventory holding costs, base-stock, safety-stock, and to find the optimum quantity of inventory levels, thereby suggesting a way forward to adapt some factors of Just-In-Time to minimizing the inventory costs throughout the entire supply chain. The model has been developed using Micro- Soft Excel & Visual Basic in order to study inventory allocations in any network of the supply chain. The application and reproducibility of this model were tested by comparing the actual system that was implemented in the case study with the results of the developed model. The findings showed that the total inventory costs of the developed model are about 50% less than the actual costs of the inventory items within the case study.

Keywords: Holding Costs, Inventory, JIT, Modeling, SCM

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Authors: Mohamed Moustafa Soliman, Mohamed Abd Elsalam

Abstract:

Recent financial international scandals around the world have led to a number of investigations into the effectiveness of corporate governance practices and audit quality. Although evidence of corporate governance practices and audit quality exists from developed economies, very scanty studies have been conducted in Egypt where corporate governance is just evolving. Therefore, this study provides evidence on the effectiveness of corporate governance practices and audit quality from a developing country. The data for analysis are gathered from the top 50 most active companies in the Egyptian Stock Exchange, covering the three year period 2007-2009. Logistic regression was used in investigating the questions that were raised in the study. Findings from the study show that board independence; CEO duality and audit committees significantly have relationship with audit quality. The results also, indicate that institutional investor and managerial ownership have no significantly relationship with audit quality. Evidence also exist that size of the company; complexity and business leverage are important factors in audit quality for companies quoted on the Egypt Stock Exchange.

Keywords: Corporate governance, Boards of directors, corporate ownership, Audit Committees, Audit quality, and Egypt.

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