Search results for: Organization Design

Authors: Mihaela Popescu, Alexandru Bitoleanu, Mircea Dobriceanu

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The proper selection of the AC-side passive filter interconnecting the voltage source converter to the power supply is essential to obtain satisfactory performances of an active power filter system. The use of the LCL-type filter has the advantage of eliminating the high frequency switching harmonics in the current injected into the power supply. This paper is mainly focused on analyzing the influence of the interface filter parameters on the active filtering performances. Some design aspects are pointed out. Thus, the design of the AC interface filter starts from transfer functions by imposing the filter performance which refers to the significant current attenuation of the switching harmonics without affecting the harmonics to be compensated. A Matlab/Simulink model of the entire active filtering system including a concrete nonlinear load has been developed to examine the system performances. It is shown that a gamma LC filter could accomplish the attenuation requirement of the current provided by converter. Moreover, the existence of an optimal value of the grid-side inductance which minimizes the total harmonic distortion factor of the power supply current is pointed out. Nevertheless, a small converter-side inductance and a damping resistance in series with the filter capacitance are absolutely needed in order to keep the ripple and oscillations of the current at the converter side within acceptable limits. The effect of change in the LCL-filter parameters is evaluated. It is concluded that good active filtering performances can be achieved with small values of the capacitance and converter-side inductance.

Keywords: Active power filter, LCL filter, Matlab/Simulinkmodeling, Passive filters, Transfer function.

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Authors: Ragi Poyyara, Vivek V., Ashish Khaparde

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The product development process (PDP) in the Technology group plays a very important role in the launch of any product. While a manufacturing process encourages the use of certain measures to reduce health, safety and environmental (HSE) risks on the shop floor, the PDP concentrates on the use of Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) to develop a flawless design. Furthermore, PDP distributes and coordinates activities between different departments such as marketing, purchasing, and manufacturing. However, it is seldom realized that PDP makes a significant contribution to developing a product that reduces HSE risks by encouraging the Technology group to use effective GD&T. The GD&T is a precise communication tool that uses a set of symbols, rules, and definitions to mathematically define parts to be manufactured. It is a quality assurance method widely used in the oil and gas sector. Traditionally it is used to ensure the interchangeability of a part without affecting its form, fit, and function. Parts that do not meet these requirements are rejected during quality audits. This paper discusses how the Technology group integrates this quality assurance tool into the PDP and how the tool plays a major role in helping the HSE department in its goal towards eliminating HSE incidents. The PDP involves a thorough risk assessment and establishes a method to address those risks during the design stage. An illustration shows how GD&T helped reduce safety risks by ergonomically improving assembling operations. A brief discussion explains how tolerances provided on a part help prevent finger injury. This tool has equipped Technology to produce fixtures, which are used daily in operations as well as manufacturing. By applying GD&T to create good fits, HSE risks are mitigated for operating personnel. Both customers and service providers benefit from reduced safety risks.

Keywords: HSE, PDP, GD&T, risks.

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Authors: Sergio Mauricio Pérez López, Luis Rodrigo Valencia Pérez, Juan Manuel Peña Aguilar, Adelina Morita Alexander

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The culture of continuous improvement in organizations is very important as it represents a source of competitive advantage. This article discusses the transfer of knowledge between companies which formed cross-functional teams and used a dynamic model for knowledge creation as a framework. In addition, the article discusses the structure of cognitive assets in companies and the concept of "stickiness" (which is defined as an obstacle to the transfer of knowledge). The purpose of this analysis is to show that an improvement in the attitude of individual members of an organization creates opportunities, and that an exchange of information and knowledge leads to generating continuous improvements in the company as a whole. This article also discusses the importance of creating the proper conditions for sharing tacit knowledge. By narrowing gaps between people, mutual trust can be created and thus contribute to an increase in sharing. The concept of adapting knowledge to new environments will be highlighted, as it is essential for companies to translate and modify information so that such information can fit the context of receiving organizations. Adaptation will ensure that the transfer process is carried out smoothly by preventing "stickiness". When developing the transfer process on cross-functional teams (as opposed to working groups), the team acquires the flexibility and responsiveness necessary to meet objectives. These types of cross-functional teams also generate synergy due to the array of different work backgrounds of their individuals. When synergy is established, a culture of continuous improvement is created.

Keywords: Knowledge transfer, continuous improvement, teamwork, cognitive assets.

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Authors: K. Kong, E. Ferrier, L. Michel

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The purpose of this research was to investigate the creep behaviour of the heterogeneous Timber-UHPFRC beams. New developments have been done to further improve the structural performance, such as strengthening of the timber (glulam) beam by bonding composite material combine with an ultra-high performance fibre reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) internally reinforced with or without carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) bars. However, in the design of wooden structures, in addition to the criteria of strengthening and stiffness, deformability due to the creep of wood, especially in horizontal elements, is also a design criterion. Glulam, UHPFRC and CFRP may be an interesting composite mix to respond to the issue of creep behaviour of composite structures made of different materials with different rheological properties. In this paper, we describe an experimental and analytical investigation of the creep performance of the glulam-UHPFRC-CFRP beams assembled by bonding. The experimental investigations creep behaviour was conducted for different environments: in- and outside under constant loading for approximately a year. The measured results are compared with numerical ones obtained by an analytical model. This model was developed to predict the creep response of the glulam-UHPFRCCFRP beams based on the creep characteristics of the individual components. The results show that heterogeneous glulam-UHPFRC beams provide an improvement in both the strengthening and stiffness, and can also effectively reduce the creep deflection of wooden beams.

Keywords: Carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) bars, creep behaviour, glulam, ultra-high performance fibre reinforced concrete (UHPFRC).

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Authors: Alexei M. Mikhailov

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The paper attempts to elucidate the columnar structure of the cortex by answering the following questions. (1) Why the cortical neurons with similar interests tend to be vertically arrayed forming what is known as cortical columns? (2) How to describe the cortex as a whole in concise mathematical terms? (3) How to design efficient digital models of the cortex?

Keywords: Cortex, pattern recognition, artificial neural cortex, computational biology, brain and neural engineering.

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Authors: Sharifullah Ahmed, Sarwar Jahan Md. Yasin

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Shallow foundations on unimproved soft natural soils can undergo a high consolidation and secondary settlement. For low and medium rise building projects on such soil condition, pile foundation may not be cost effective. In such cases an alternative to pile foundations may be shallow strip footings placed on a double layered improved soil system soil. The upper layer of this system is untreated or cement treated compacted sand and underlying layer is natural soft clay. This system will reduce the settlement to an allowable limit. The current research has been conducted with the settlement of a rigid plane-strain strip footing of 2.5 m width placed on the surface of a soil consisting of an untreated or cement treated sand layer overlying a bed of homogeneous soft clay. The settlement of the mentioned shallow foundation has been studied considering both cases with the thicknesses of the sand layer are 0.3 to 0.9 times the width of footing. The response of the clay layer is assumed as undrained for plastic loading stages and drained during consolidation stages. The response of the sand layer is drained during all loading stages. FEM analysis was done using PLAXIS 2D Version 8.0. A natural clay deposit of 15 m thickness and 18 m width has been modeled using Hardening Soil Model, Soft Soil Model, Soft Soil Creep Model, and upper improvement layer has been modeled using only Hardening Soil Model. The groundwater level is at the top level of the clay deposit that made the system fully saturated. Parametric study has been conducted to determine the effect of thickness, density, cementation of the sand mat and density, shear strength of the soft clay layer on the settlement of strip foundation under the uniformly distributed vertical load of varying value. A set of the chart has been established for designing shallow strip footing on the sand mat over thick, soft clay deposit through obtaining the particular thickness of sand mat for particular subsoil parameter to ensure no punching shear failure and no settlement beyond allowable level. Design guideline in the form of non-dimensional charts has been developed for footing pressure equivalent to medium-rise residential or commercial building foundation with strip footing on soft inorganic Normally Consolidated (NC) soil of Bangladesh having void ratio from 1.0 to 1.45.

Keywords: Design charts, ground improvement, PLAXIS 2D, primary and secondary settlement, sand Mat, soft clay.

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Authors: Hock Chuan, Lim

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This paper presents an approach for identifying interactive effects using Network Science (NS) supported by Social Network Analysis (SNA) techniques. Based on general observations that learning processes and behaviors are shaped by the social relationships and influenced by learning environment, the central idea was to understand both the human and non-human interactive effects for a blended learning mode of delivery of computer science modules. Important findings include (a) the importance of non-human nodes to influence the centrality and transfer; (b) the degree of non-human and human connectivity impacts learning. This project reveals that the NS pattern and connectivity as measured by node relationships offer alternative approach for hypothesis generation and design of qualitative data collection. An iterative process further reinforces the analysis, whereas the experimental simulation option itself is an interesting alternative option, a hybrid combination of both experimental simulation and qualitative data collection presents itself as a promising and viable means to study complex scenario such as blended learning delivery mode. The primary value of this paper lies in the design of the approach for studying interactive effects of human (social nodes) and non-human (learning/study environment, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) infrastructures nodes) components. In conclusion, this project adds to the understanding and the use of SNA to model and study interactive effects in blended social learning.

Keywords: Blended learning, network science, social learning, social network analysis, study environment.

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Authors: Devanjan Bhattacharya, Jitka Komarkova

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The research describes the implementation of a novel and stand-alone system for dynamic hazard warning. The system uses all existing infrastructure already in place like mobile networks, a laptop/PC and the small installation software. The geospatial dataset are the maps of a region which are again frugal. Hence there is no need to invest and it reaches everyone with a mobile. A novel architecture of hazard assessment and warning introduced where major technologies in ICT interfaced to give a unique WebGIS based dynamic real time geohazard warning communication system. A never before architecture introduced for integrating WebGIS with telecommunication technology. Existing technologies interfaced in a novel architectural design to address a neglected domain in a way never done before – through dynamically updatable WebGIS based warning communication. The work publishes new architecture and novelty in addressing hazard warning techniques in sustainable way and user friendly manner. Coupling of hazard zonation and hazard warning procedures into a single system has been shown. Generalized architecture for deciphering a range of geo-hazards has been developed. Hence the developmental work presented here can be summarized as the development of internet-SMS based automated geo-hazard warning communication system; integrating a warning communication system with a hazard evaluation system; interfacing different open-source technologies towards design and development of a warning system; modularization of different technologies towards development of a warning communication system; automated data creation, transformation and dissemination over different interfaces. The architecture of the developed warning system has been functionally automated as well as generalized enough that can be used for any hazard and setup requirement has been kept to a minimum.

Keywords: Geospatial, web-based GIS, geohazard, warning system.

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Authors: D. Ščeulovs, E. Gaile-Sarkane

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Fast development of technologies, economic globalization and many other external circumstances stimulate company’s competitiveness. One of the major trends in today’s business is the shift to the exploitation of the Internet and electronic environment for entrepreneurial needs. Latest researches confirm that e-environment provides a range of possibilities and opportunities for companies, especially for micro-, small- and medium-sized companies, which have limited resources. The usage of e-tools raises the effectiveness and the profitability of an organization, as well as its competitiveness. In the electronic market, as in the classic one, there are factors, such as globalization, development of new technology, price sensitive consumers, Internet, new distribution and communication channels that influence entrepreneurship. As a result of eenvironment development, e-commerce and e-marketing grow as well.

Objective of the paper: To describe and identify factors influencing company’s competitiveness in e-environment.

Research methodology: The authors employ well-established quantitative and qualitative methods of research: grouping, analysis, statistics method, factor analysis in SPSS 20 environment, etc. The theoretical and methodological background of the research is formed by using scientific researches and publications, such as that from mass media and professional literature; statistical information from legal institutions as well as information collected by the authors during the surveying process. Research result: The authors detected and classified factors influencing competitiveness in e-environment. 

In this paper, the authors presented their findings based on theoretical, scientific, and field research. Authors have conducted a research on e-environment utilization among Latvian enterprises. 

Keywords: Competitiveness, e-environment, factors, factor analysis.

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Authors: L. Mion

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The implementation of quality management systems in higher education in different countries is determined by national regulatory choices and supranational indications (such as the European Standard Guidelines for Quality Assurance). The effective functioning and transformative capacity of these quality management systems largely depend on the organizational context in which they are applied and, more specifically, on the culture of quality developed in single universities or in single countries. The University's concept of quality culture integrates the structural dimension of Quality Assurance (QA) (quality management manuals, process definitions, tools) with the value dimension of an organization (principles, skills, and attitudes). Within the EHEA (European Higher Education Area), countries such as Portugal, the Netherlands, the UK, and Norway demonstrate a greater integration of QA principles in the various organizational levels and areas of competence of university institutions or have greater experience in implementation or scientific and political debate on the matter. Therefore, the study, through an integrative literature review, of the quality management systems of these countries is aimed at determining a framework of the culture of quality, helpful in defining the elements which, both in structural-organizational terms and in terms of values and skills and attitudes, have proved to be factors of success in the effective implementation of quality assurance systems in universities and in the countries considered in the research. In order for a QA system to effectively aim for continuous improvement in a complex and dynamic context such as the university one, it must embrace a holistic vision of quality from an integrative perspective, focusing on the objective of transforming the reality being evaluated.

Keywords: Higher education, quality assurance, quality culture, Portugal, Norway, Netherlands, United Kingdom.

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Authors: Noor Azlina Mohd Salleh, Salmiah Kasolang, Ahmed Jaffar

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Green Lean Total Quality Management (LTQM) Human Resource Management (HRM) System is a system comprises of HRM in Environmental Management System (EMS) practices which is integrated to TQM with Lean Manufacturing (LM) principles. HRM is essential especially in dealing with low motivation and less productive employees. The ultimate goal of this system is to focus on achieving total human resource development that is motivated and capable to optimize their creativity to be a part of Green and Lean TQM organization. A survey questionnaire was developed and distributed to 30 highly active automotive vendors in Malaysia and analyzed by Minitab v16 and SPSS v17. It was found out companies that are practicing Green LTQM HRM practices have generated more revenue and have RND capability. However, years of company establishment do not affect the openness of the company to adapt new initiatives that can help to improve the effectiveness of the operations. It was also found out the importance of training, communication and rewards for employees. The Green LTQM HRM practices framework model established in this study hopefully will give preliminary insight especially to companies that are still looking for system that can improve their productivity from managing human resource. This is preliminary study that combined 4 awards practices, ISO/TS16949, Toyota Production System SAEJ4000, MAJAICO Lean Production System and EMS focusing on highly active companies that have been involved in MAJAICO Program and Proton Vendor Development Program. Future study can be conducted to know the status at other industry as well as case study pertaining to this system.

Keywords: Automotive Industry, Lean Manufacturing, Operational Engineering Management, Total Quality Management. Environmental Management System.

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Authors: P. C. Boisteanu, M. G. Usturoi, Roxana Lazar, B. V. Avarvarei

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The paper is included within the framework of a complex research program, which was initiated from the hypothesis arguing on the existence of a correlation between pineal indolic and peptide hormones and the somatic development rhythm, including thus the epithalamium-epiphysis complex involvement. At birds, pineal gland contains a circadian oscillator, playing a main role in the temporal organization of the cerebral functions. The secretion of pineal indolic hormones is characterized by a high endogenous rhythmic alternation, modulated by the light/darkness (L/D) succession and by temperature as well. The research has been carried out using 100 chicken broilers - “Ross" commercial hybrid, randomly allocated in two experimental batches: Lc batch, reared under a 12L/12D lighting schedule and Lexp batch, which was photic pinealectomised through continuous exposition to light (150 lux, 24 hours, 56 days). Chemical and physical features of the meat issued from breast fillet and thighs muscles have been studied, determining the dry matter, proteins, fat, collagen, salt content and pH value, as well. Besides the variations of meat chemical composition in relation with lighting schedule, other parameters have been studied: live weight dynamics, feed intake and somatic development degree. The achieved results became significant since chickens have 7 days of age, some variations of the studied parameters being registered, revealing that the pineal gland physiologic activity, in relation with the lighting schedule, could be interpreted through the monitoring of the somatic development technological parameters, usually studied within the chicken broilers rearing aviculture practice.

Keywords: lighting schedule, physic-chemical characteristics ofmeat, pineal gland at birds.

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Authors: N. V. Toan, S. Sangu, T. Saitoh, N. Inomata, T. Ono

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This paper presents the design and fabrication of an optical window for an optical modulator toward image sensing applications. An optical window consists of micrometer-order SiO2 capillaries (porous solid) that can modulate transmission light intensity by moving the liquid in and out of porous solid. A high optical transmittance of the optical window can be achieved due to refractive index matching when the liquid is penetrated into the porous solid. Otherwise, its light transmittance is lower because of light reflection and scattering by air holes and capillary walls. Silicon capillaries fabricated by deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) process are completely oxidized to form the SiO2 capillaries. Therefore, high aspect ratio SiO2 capillaries can be achieved based on silicon capillaries formed by DRIE technique. Large compressive stress of the oxide causes bending of the capillary structure, which is reduced by optimizing the design of device structure. The large stress of the optical window can be released via thin supporting beams. A 7.2 mm x 9.6 mm optical window area toward a fully integrated with the image sensor format is successfully fabricated and its optical transmittance is evaluated with and without inserting liquids (ethanol and matching oil). The achieved modulation range is approximately 20% to 35% with and without liquid penetration in visible region (wavelength range from 450 nm to 650 nm).

Keywords: Thermal oxidation process, SiO2 capillaries, optical window, light transmittance, image sensor, liquid penetration.

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Authors: A. Abdullah, N. Faghih Mirzaei, S. Hany Haron

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Neighbourhood environment walkability on reported physical activity (PA) levels of students of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Malaysia. Compared with previous generations, today’s young people spend less time playing outdoors and have lower participation rates in PA. Research suggests that negative perceptions of neighbourhood walkability may be a potential barrier to adolescents’ PA. The sample consisted of 200 USM students (to 24 years old) who live outside of the main campus and engage in PA in sport halls and sport fields of USM. The data were analysed using the t-test, binary logistic regression, and discriminant analysis techniques. The present study found that youth PA was affected by neighbourhood environment walkability factors, including neighbourhood infrastructures, neighbourhood safety (crime), and recreation facilities, as well as street characteristics and neighbourhood design variables such as facades of sidewalks, roadside trees, green spaces, and aesthetics. The finding also illustrated that active students were influenced by street connectivity, neighbourhood infrastructures, recreation facilities, facades of sidewalks, and aesthetics, whereas students in the less active group were affected by access to destinations, neighbourhood safety (crime), and roadside trees and green spaces for their PAs. These results report which factors of built environments have more effect on youth PA and they message to the public to create more awareness about the benefits of PA on youth health.

Keywords: Fear of crime, neighbourhood built environment, physical activities, street characteristics design.

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Authors: S. S. Rana, C. Janveja, S. K. Soni

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This study is concerned with the optimization of fermentation parameters for the hyper production of mannanase from Fusarium oxysporum SS-25 employing two step statistical strategy and kinetic characterization of crude enzyme preparation. The Plackett-Burman design used to screen out the important factors in the culture medium revealed 20% (w/w) wheat bran, 2% (w/w) each of potato peels, soyabean meal and malt extract, 1% tryptone, 0.14% NH4SO4, 0.2% KH2PO4, 0.0002% ZnSO4, 0.0005% FeSO4, 0.01% MnSO4, 0.012% SDS, 0.03% NH4Cl, 0.1% NaNO3 in brewer’s spent grain based medium with 50% moisture content, inoculated with 2.8×107 spores and incubated at 30oC for 6 days to be the main parameters influencing the enzyme production. Of these factors, four variables including soyabean meal, FeSO4, MnSO4 and NaNO3 were chosen to study the interactive effects and their optimum levels in central composite design of response surface methodology with the final mannanase yield of 193 IU/gds. The kinetic characterization revealed the crude enzyme to be active over broader temperature and pH range. This could result in 26.6% reduction in kappa number with 4.93% higher tear index and 1% increase in brightness when used to treat the wheat straw based kraft pulp. The hydrolytic potential of enzyme was also demonstrated on both locust bean gum and guar gum.

Keywords: Brewer’s Spent Grain, Fusarium oxysporum, Mannanase, Response Surface Methodology.

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Authors: Yahia Salah, Med Lassaad Kaddachi, Rached Tourki

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This paper presents the design, implementation and evaluation of a micro-network, or Network-on-Chip (NoC), based on a generic pipeline router architecture. The router is designed to efficiently support traffic generated by multimedia applications on embedded multi-core systems. It employs a simplest routing mechanism and implements the round-robin scheduling strategy to resolve output port contentions and minimize latency. A virtual channel flow control is applied to avoid the head-of-line blocking problem and enhance performance in the NoC. The hardware design of the router architecture has been implemented at the register transfer level; its functionality is evaluated in the case of the two dimensional Mesh/Torus topology, and performance results are derived from ModelSim simulator and Xilinx ISE 9.2i synthesis tool. An example of a multi-core image processing system utilizing the NoC structure has been implemented and validated to demonstrate the capability of the proposed micro-network architecture. To reduce complexity of the image compression and decompression architecture, the system use image processing algorithm based on classical discrete cosine transform with an efficient zonal processing approach. The experimental results have confirmed that both the proposed image compression scheme and NoC architecture can achieve a reasonable image quality with lower processing time.

Keywords: Generic Pipeline Network-on-Chip Router Architecture, JPEG Image Compression, FPGA Hardware Implementation, Performance Evaluation.

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Authors: Vladyslav Povoroznyuk, Anna Musiienko, Nataliia Zaverukha, Roksolana Povoroznyuk

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Along with the global aging of population, the number of people with somatic diseases is increasing, including such interrelated pathologies as obesity, osteoarthritis (OA) and osteoporosis (OP). The objective of the study is to examine the connection between body mass index (BMI), OA and bone mineral density (BMD) of lumbar spine, femoral neck and trabecular bone score (TBS) in postmenopausal women with OA. We have observed 359 postmenopausal women (50-89 years old) and divided them into four groups by age: 50-59 yrs, 60-69 yrs, 70-79 yrs and over 80 years old. In addition, according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Clinical classification criteria for knee and hip OA, we divided them into 2 groups: group I – 117 females with symptomatic OA (including 89 patients with knee OA, 28 patients with hip OA) and group II –242 women with a normal functional activity of large joints. Analysis of data was performed taking into account their BMI, classified by World Health Organization (WHO). Diagnosis of obesity was established when BMI was above 30 kg/m². In woman with obesity, a symptomatic OA was detected in 44 postmenopausal women (41.1%), a normal functional activity of large joints - in 63 women (58.9%). However, in women with normal BMI – 73 women, who account for 29.0% of cases, a symptomatic OA was detected. According to a chi-squared (χ2) test, a significantly higher level of BMI was detected in postmenopausal women with OA (χ2 = 5.05, p = 0.02). Women with a symptomatic OA had a significantly higher BMD of lumbar spine compared with women who had a normal functional activity of large joints. No significant differences of BMD of femoral necks or TBS were detected in either the group with OA or with a normal functional activity of large joints.

Keywords: Bone mineral density, BMD, body mass index, BMI, obesity, overweight, postmenopausal women, osteoarthritis.

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Authors: J. Rizk, Y. Chaiko

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This paper shows the potential system benefits of simple tracking solar system using a stepper motor and light sensor. This method is increasing power collection efficiency by developing a device that tracks the sun to keep the panel at a right angle to its rays. A solar tracking system is designed, implemented and experimentally tested. The design details and the experimental results are shown.

Keywords: Renewable Energy, Power Optimization.

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Authors: Mannan Mridha, Mohammad S. Islam

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Innovative medical technologies offer more effective medical care, with less risk to patient and healthcare personnel. Medical technology and devices when properly used provide better data, precise monitoring and less invasive treatments and can be more targeted and often less costly. The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) equipped with patient monitoring, respiratory and cardiac support, pain management, emergency resuscitation and life support devices is particularly prone to medical errors for various reasons. Many people in the developing countries now wonder whether their visit to hospital might harm rather than help them. This is because; clinicians in the developing countries are required to maintain an increasing workload with limited resources and absence of well-functioning safety system. A team of experts from the medical, biomedical and clinical engineering in Sweden and Bangladesh have worked together to study the incidents, adverse events at the ICU in Bangladesh. The study included both public and private hospitals to provide a better understanding for physical structure, organization and practice in operating processes of care, and the occurrence of adverse outcomes the errors, risks and accidents related to medical devices at the ICU, and to develop a ICT based support system in order to reduce hazards and errors and thus improve the quality of performance, care and cost effectiveness at the ICU. Concrete recommendations and guidelines have been made for preparing appropriate ICT related tools and methods for improving the routine for use of medical devices, reporting and analyzing of the incidents at the ICU in order to reduce the number of undetected and unsolved incidents and thus improve the patient safety.

Keywords: Accidents reporting system, patient car and safety, safe medical devices.

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Authors: Abeer K. Jameel, Harry Evdorides

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Iraq is a middle income country where the road safety issue is considered one of the leading causes of deaths. To control the road risk issue, the Iraqi Ministry of Planning, General Statistical Organization started to organise a collection system of traffic accidents data with details related to their causes and severity. These data are published as an annual report. In this paper, a review of the available crash data in Iraq will be presented. The available data represent the rate of accidents in aggregated level and classified according to their types, road users’ details, and crash severity, type of vehicles, causes and number of causalities. The review is according to the types of models used in road safety studies and research, and according to the required road safety data in the road constructions tasks. The available data are also compared with the road safety dataset published in the United Kingdom as an example of developed country. It is concluded that the data in Iraq are suitable for descriptive and exploratory models, aggregated level comparison analysis, and evaluation and monitoring the progress of the overall traffic safety performance. However, important traffic safety studies require disaggregated level of data and details related to the factors of the likelihood of traffic crashes. Some studies require spatial geographic details such as the location of the accidents which is essential in ranking the roads according to their level of safety, and name the most dangerous roads in Iraq which requires tactic plan to control this issue. Global Road safety agencies interested in solve this problem in low and middle-income countries have designed road safety assessment methodologies which are basing on the road attributes data only. Therefore, in this research it is recommended to use one of these methodologies.

Keywords: Data availability, Iraq, road safety.

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Authors: Hema Nair

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This paper presents a new system developed in Java® for pattern recognition and pattern summarisation in multi-band (RGB) satellite images. The system design is described in some detail. Results of testing the system to analyse and summarise patterns in SPOT MS images and LANDSAT images are also discussed.

Keywords: Pattern recognition, image analysis, feature extraction, blackboard component, linguistic summary.

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Authors: Tom Dowling, Adam Duffy

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This paper presents an architecture to assist in the development of tools to perform experimental analysis. Existing implementations of tools based on this architecture are also described in this paper. These tools are applied to the real world problem of fault attack emulation and detection in cryptographic algorithms.

Keywords: Software Architectures and Design, Software Componentsand Reuse, Engineering Secure Software.

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Authors: Tahsien Mohamed Okasha, Warda Youssef Mohamed Morsy, Hanan Elsayed Zaghla

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We hypothesized that post cardiac arrest patients with Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of less than 8 and who will be exposed to therapeutic hypothermia protocol will exhibit improvement in their neurological performance. 17 subjects were enrolled in this study all over one year. The study was carried out using Quasi-experimental research design. Four tools were used for data collection of this study: Demographic and medical data sheet, Post cardiac arrest health assessment sheet, Bedside Shivering Assessment Scale (BSAS), and Glasgow Pittsburgh cerebral performance category scale (CPC). The mean age was X̅ ± SD = 53 ± 8.122 years, 47.1% were arrested because of cardiac etiology. 35.3% subjects were initially arrested in form of ventricular tachycardia (VT), 23.5% initially arrested in form of ventricular fibrillation (VF), and 29.4% in form of A-Systole. Favorable neurological outcome was seen among 70.6%. There was significant statistical difference in WBC, Platelets, blood gases value, random blood sugar. Also, initial arrest rhythm, etiology of cardiac arrest, and shivering status were significantly correlated with cerebral performance categories score. Therapeutic hypothermia has positive effects on neurological performance among post cardiac arrest patients with GCS score of less than 8. Replication of the study on larger probability sample, with randomized control trial design is recommended with further study for suggesting nursing protocol for patients undergoing therapeutic hypothermia is recommended.

Keywords: Therapeutic hypothermia, neurological performance, after resuscitation from cardiac arrest, initial arrest rhythm.

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Authors: David Ruiz, Carlos Nava, Roberto Carbajal

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The psychological profile has become one of the most important sources of information when it comes to individual selection and the hiring process in any organization. Psychological instruments are used to collect data about variables that are considered critically important for performance in work. However, because of conceptual chaos in organizational psychology, most of the information provided by psychological testing is not directly useful for Mexican human resources professionals to take hiring decisions. The aims of this paper are 1) to underline the lack of conceptual precision in theoretical testing foundations in Mexico and 2) presenting a reliability and validity analysis of a frustration tolerance instrument created as an alternative to a heuristically conduct individual assessment in organizations. First, a description of assessment conditions in Mexico is made. Second, an instrument and a theoretical framework is presented as an alternative to the assessment practices in the country. A total of 65 Psychology Iztacala Superior Studies Faculty students were assessed. Cronbach´s alpha coefficient was calculated and an exploratory factor analysis was carried out to prove the scale unidimensionality. Reliability analysis revealed good internal consistency of the scale (Cronbach’s α = 0.825). Factor analysis produced 4 factors for the scale. However, factor loadings and explained variation give proof to the scale unidimensionality. It is concluded that the instrument has good psychometric properties that will allow human resources professionals to collect useful data. Different possibilities to conduct psychological assessment are suggested for future development.

Keywords: Psychological assessment, frustration tolerance, human resources, organizational psychology.

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Authors: Stephan Printz, Kristina Lahl, René Vossen, Sabina Jeschke

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Strategic investment decisions are characterized by high innovation potential and long-term effects on the competitiveness of enterprises. Due to the uncertainty and risks involved in this complex decision making process, the need arises for well-structured support activities. A method that considers cost and the long-term added value is the cost-benefit effectiveness estimation. One of those methods is the “profitability estimation focused on benefits – PEFB”-method developed at the Institute of Management Cybernetics at RWTH Aachen University. The method copes with the challenges associated with strategic investment decisions by integrating long-term non-monetary aspects whilst also mapping the chronological sequence of an investment within the organization’s target system. Thus, this method is characterized as a holistic approach for the evaluation of costs and benefits of an investment. This participation-oriented method was applied to business environments in many workshops. The results of the workshops are a library of more than 96 cost aspects, as well as 122 benefit aspects. These aspects are preprocessed and comparatively analyzed with regards to their alignment to a series of risk levels. For the first time, an accumulation and a distribution of cost and benefit aspects regarding their impact and probability of occurrence are given. The results give evidence that the PEFB-method combines precise measures of financial accounting with the incorporation of benefits. Finally, the results constitute the basics for using information technology and data science for decision support when applying within the PEFB-method.

Keywords: Cost-benefit analysis, multi-criteria decision, profitability estimation focused on benefits, risk and uncertainty analysis.

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Authors: Oluseyi O. Ajayi, Ohiose D. Ohijeagbon, Mercy Ogbonnaya, Ameh Attabo

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The study assessed the potential and economic viability of stand-alone wind systems for embedded generation, taking into account its benefits to small off-grid rural communities at 40 meteorological sites in Nigeria. A specific electric load profile was developed to accommodate communities consisting of 200 homes, a school and a community health centre. This load profile was incorporated within the distributed generation analysis producing energy in the MW range, while optimally meeting daily load demand for the rural communities. Twenty-four years (1987 to 2010) of wind speed data at a height of 10m utilized for the study were sourced from the Nigeria Meteorological Department, Oshodi. The HOMER® software optimizing tool was engaged for the feasibility study and design. Each site was suited to 3MW wind turbines in sets of five, thus 15MW was designed for each site. This design configuration was adopted in order to easily compare the distributed generation system amongst the sites to determine their relative economic viability in terms of life cycle cost, as well as levelised cost of producing energy. A net present value was estimated in terms of life cycle cost for 25 of the 40 meteorological sites. On the other hand, the remaining sites yielded a net present cost; meaning the installations at these locations were not economically viable when utilizing the present tariff regime for embedded generation in Nigeria.

Keywords: Wind speed, wind power, distributed generation, cost per kilowatt-hour, clean energy, Nigeria.

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Authors: H. Anıl, G. Kar

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In addition to being rich in renewable energy resources, Turkey is one of the countries that promise potential in geothermal energy production with its high installed power, cheapness, and sustainability. Increasing imbalance penalties become an economic burden for organizations, since the geothermal generation plants cannot maintain the balance of supply and demand due to the inadequacy of the production forecasts given in the day-ahead market. A better production forecast reduces the imbalance penalties of market participants and provides a better imbalance in the day ahead market. In this study, using machine learning, deep learning and time series methods, the total generation of the power plants belonging to Zorlu Doğal Electricity Generation, which has a high installed capacity in terms of geothermal, was predicted for the first one-week and first two-weeks of March, then the imbalance penalties were calculated with these estimates and compared with the real values. These modeling operations were carried out on two datasets, the basic dataset and the dataset created by extracting new features from this dataset with the feature engineering method. According to the results, Support Vector Regression from traditional machine learning models outperformed other models and exhibited the best performance. In addition, the estimation results in the feature engineering dataset showed lower error rates than the basic dataset. It has been concluded that the estimated imbalance penalty calculated for the selected organization is lower than the actual imbalance penalty, optimum and profitable accounts.

Keywords: Machine learning, deep learning, time series models, feature engineering, geothermal energy production forecasting.

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Authors: Padmanabhan Balasubramanian, Karthik Anantha

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Structural representation and technology mapping of a Boolean function is an important problem in the design of nonregenerative digital logic circuits (also called combinational logic circuits). Library aware function manipulation offers a solution to this problem. Compact multi-level representation of binary networks, based on simple circuit structures, such as AND-Inverter Graphs (AIG) [1] [5], NAND Graphs, OR-Inverter Graphs (OIG), AND-OR Graphs (AOG), AND-OR-Inverter Graphs (AOIG), AND-XORInverter Graphs, Reduced Boolean Circuits [8] does exist in literature. In this work, we discuss a novel and efficient graph realization for combinational logic circuits, represented using a NAND-NOR-Inverter Graph (NNIG), which is composed of only two-input NAND (NAND2), NOR (NOR2) and inverter (INV) cells. The networks are constructed on the basis of irredundant disjunctive and conjunctive normal forms, after factoring, comprising terms with minimum support. Construction of a NNIG for a non-regenerative function in normal form would be straightforward, whereas for the complementary phase, it would be developed by considering a virtual instance of the function. However, the choice of best NNIG for a given function would be based upon literal count, cell count and DAG node count of the implementation at the technology independent stage. In case of a tie, the final decision would be made after extracting the physical design parameters. We have considered AIG representation for reduced disjunctive normal form and the best of OIG/AOG/AOIG for the minimized conjunctive normal forms. This is necessitated due to the nature of certain functions, such as Achilles- heel functions. NNIGs are found to exhibit 3.97% lesser node count compared to AIGs and OIG/AOG/AOIGs; consume 23.74% and 10.79% lesser library cells than AIGs and OIG/AOG/AOIGs for the various samples considered. We compare the power efficiency and delay improvement achieved by optimal NNIGs over minimal AIGs and OIG/AOG/AOIGs for various case studies. In comparison with functionally equivalent, irredundant and compact AIGs, NNIGs report mean savings in power and delay of 43.71% and 25.85% respectively, after technology mapping with a 0.35 micron TSMC CMOS process. For a comparison with OIG/AOG/AOIGs, NNIGs demonstrate average savings in power and delay by 47.51% and 24.83%. With respect to device count needed for implementation with static CMOS logic style, NNIGs utilize 37.85% and 33.95% lesser transistors than their AIG and OIG/AOG/AOIG counterparts.

Keywords: AND-Inverter Graph, OR-Inverter Graph, DirectedAcyclic Graph, Low power design, Delay optimization.

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Authors: A. Ouargui, N. Belouaggadia, M. Ezzine

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In Morocco, the building sector is largely responsible for the evolution of energy consumption. The control of energy in this sector remains a major issue despite the rise of renewable energies. The design of an environmentally friendly building requires mastery and knowledge of energy and bioclimatic aspects. This implies taking into consideration of all the elements making up the building and the way in which energy exchanges take place between these elements. In this context, thermal insulation seems to be an ideal starting point for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. In this context, thermal insulation seems to be an ideal starting point for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The aim of this work is to provide some solutions to reduce energy consumption while maintaining thermal comfort in the building. The objective of our work is to present an experimental study on the characterization of local materials used in the thermal insulation of buildings. These are paper recycling stabilized with cement and clay. The thermal conductivity of these materials, which were constituted based on sand, clay, cement; water, as well as treated paper, was determined by the guarded-hot-plate method. It involves the design of two materials that will subsequently be subjected to thermal and mechanical tests to determine their thermophysical properties. The results show that the thermal conductivity decreases as well in the case of the paper-cement mixture as that of the paper-clay and seems to stabilize around 40%. Measurements of mechanical properties such as flexural strength have shown that the enrichment of the studied material with paper makes it possible to reduce the flexural strength by 20% while optimizing the conductivity.

Keywords: Building, composite material, insulation, thermal conductivity, paper residue.

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Authors: Chapman Eze Nnadozie

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Cloud computing, a technology that is made possible through virtualization within networks represents a shift from the traditional ownership of infrastructure and other resources by distinct organization to a more scalable pattern in which computer resources are rented online to organizations on either as a pay-as-you-use basis or by subscription. In other words, cloud computing entails the renting of computing resources (such as storage space, memory, servers, applications, networks, etc.) by a third party to its clients on a pay-as-go basis. It is a new innovative technology that is globally embraced because of its renowned benefits, profound of which is its cost effectiveness on the part of organizations engaged with its services. In Nigeria, the services are provided either directly to companies mostly by the key IT players such as Microsoft, IBM, and Google; or in partnership with some other players such as Infoware, Descasio, and Sunnet. This action enables organizations to rent IT resources on a pay-as-you-go basis thereby salvaging them from wastages accruable on acquisition and maintenance of IT resources such as ownership of a separate data centre. This paper intends to appraise the challenges of cloud computing adoption in Nigeria, bearing in mind the country’s peculiarities’ in terms of infrastructural development. The methodologies used in this paper include the use of research questionnaires, formulated hypothesis, and the testing of the formulated hypothesis. The major findings of this paper include the fact that there are some addressable challenges to the adoption of cloud computing in Nigeria. Furthermore, the country will gain significantly if the challenges especially in the area of infrastructural development are well addressed. This is because the research established the fact that there are significant gains derivable by the adoption of cloud computing by organizations in Nigeria. However, these challenges can be overturned by concerted efforts in the part of government and other stakeholders.

Keywords: Cloud computing, data centre, infrastructure, IT resources, network, servers, virtualization.

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