Search results for: local development.
2596 Use of Waste Tire Rubber Alkali-Activated-Based Mortars in Repair of Concrete Structures
Authors: Mohammad Ebrahim Kianifar, Ehsan Ahmadi
Abstract:
Reinforced concrete structures experience local defects such as cracks over their lifetime under various environmental loadings. Consequently, they are repaired by mortars to avoid detrimental effects such as corrosion of reinforcement, which in long-term may lead to strength loss of a member or collapse of structures. However, repaired structures may need multiple repairs due to changes in load distribution, and thus, lack of compatibility between mortar and substrate concrete. On the other hand, waste tire rubber alkali-activated (WTRAA)-based materials have very high potential to be used as repair mortars because of their ductility and flexibility, which may delay failure of repair mortar, and thus, provide sufficient compatibility. Hence, this work presents a study on suitability of WTRAA-based materials as mortars for repair of concrete structures through an experimental program. To this end, WTRAA mortars with 15% aggregate replacement, alkali-activated (AA) mortars, and ordinary mortars are made to repair a number of concrete beams. The WTRAA mortars are composed of slag as base material, sodium hydroxide as alkaline activator, and different gradation of waste tire rubber (fine and coarse gradations). Flexural tests are conducted on the concrete beams repaired by the ordinary, AA, and WTRAA mortars. It is found that, despite having lower compressive strength and modulus of elasticity, the WTRAA and AA mortars increase flexural strength of the repaired beams, give compatible failures, and provide sufficient mortar-concrete interface bondings. The ordinary mortars, however, show incompatible failure modes. This study demonstrates promising application of WTRAA mortars in practical repairs of concrete structures.
Keywords: Alkali-activated mortars, concrete repair, mortar compatibility flexural strength, waste tire rubber.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4502595 Comparing Field Displacement History with Numerical Results to Estimate Geotechnical Parameters: Case Study of Arash-Esfandiar-Niayesh under Passing Tunnel, 2.5 Traffic Lane Tunnel, Tehran, Iran
Authors: A. Golshani, M. Gharizade Varnusefaderani, S. Majidian
Abstract:
Underground structures are of those structures that have uncertainty in design procedures. That is due to the complexity of soil condition around. Under passing tunnels are also such affected structures. Despite geotechnical site investigations, lots of uncertainties exist in soil properties due to unknown events. As results, it possibly causes conflicting settlements in numerical analysis with recorded values in the project. This paper aims to report a case study on a specific under passing tunnel constructed by New Austrian Tunnelling Method in Iran. The intended tunnel has an overburden of about 11.3m, the height of 12.2m and, the width of 14.4m with 2.5 traffic lane. The numerical modeling was developed by a 2D finite element program (PLAXIS Version 8). Comparing displacement histories at the ground surface during the entire installation of initial lining, the estimated surface settlement was about four times the field recorded one, which indicates that some local unknown events affect that value. Also, the displacement ratios were in a big difference between the numerical and field data. Consequently, running several numerical back analyses using laboratory and field tests data, the geotechnical parameters were accurately revised to match with the obtained monitoring data. Finally, it was found that usually the values of soil parameters are conservatively low-estimated up to 40 percent by typical engineering judgment. Additionally, it could be attributed to inappropriate constitutive models applied for the specific soil condition.
Keywords: NATM, surface displacement history, soil tests, monitoring data, numerical back-analysis, geotechnical parameters.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7992594 Central Asia and Kazakhstan: In Search of Civic Identity
Authors: Elnura Assyltayeva, Zhanar Aldubasheva, Zhengisbek Tolen, Ziyakul Assyltayeva, Aliya Alimzhanova
Abstract:
Mankind has entered into an extremely complex and controversial stage of its development: the world is simultaneously organized and chaoticized, globalized and localized, combined and split. Analysts point out that globalization as a process of strengthening economic, cultural, financial and other ties of states cause many problems. In the economic sphere, it creates the danger of growing gap between the states, in the sphere of politics it leads to the weakening of political power and influence of nation-states.Keywords: Civic identity, globalization, identity crisis, culture identity
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17862593 Nonlinear Finite Element Modeling of Deep Beam Resting on Linear and Nonlinear Random Soil
Authors: M. Seguini, D. Nedjar
Abstract:
An accuracy nonlinear analysis of a deep beam resting on elastic perfectly plastic soil is carried out in this study. In fact, a nonlinear finite element modeling for large deflection and moderate rotation of Euler-Bernoulli beam resting on linear and nonlinear random soil is investigated. The geometric nonlinear analysis of the beam is based on the theory of von Kàrmàn, where the Newton-Raphson incremental iteration method is implemented in a Matlab code to solve the nonlinear equation of the soil-beam interaction system. However, two analyses (deterministic and probabilistic) are proposed to verify the accuracy and the efficiency of the proposed model where the theory of the local average based on the Monte Carlo approach is used to analyze the effect of the spatial variability of the soil properties on the nonlinear beam response. The effect of six main parameters are investigated: the external load, the length of a beam, the coefficient of subgrade reaction of the soil, the Young’s modulus of the beam, the coefficient of variation and the correlation length of the soil’s coefficient of subgrade reaction. A comparison between the beam resting on linear and nonlinear soil models is presented for different beam’s length and external load. Numerical results have been obtained for the combination of the geometric nonlinearity of beam and material nonlinearity of random soil. This comparison highlighted the need of including the material nonlinearity and spatial variability of the soil in the geometric nonlinear analysis, when the beam undergoes large deflections.Keywords: Finite element method, geometric nonlinearity, material nonlinearity, soil-structure interaction, spatial variability.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19442592 Simulation and Design of an Aerospace Mission Powered by “Candy” Type Fuel Engines
Authors: N. Hernández Huertas, F. Rojas Mora
Abstract:
Sounding rockets are aerospace vehicles that were developed in the mid-20th century, and since then numerous investigations have been executed with the aim of innovate in this type of technology. However, the costs associated to the production of this type of technology are usually quite high, and therefore the challenge that exists today is to be able to reduce them. In this way, the main objective of this document is to present the design process of a Colombian aerospace mission capable to reach the thermosphere using low-cost “Candy” type solid fuel engines. This mission is the latest development of the Uniandes Aerospace Project (PUA for its Spanish acronym), which is an undergraduate and postgraduate research group at Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia), dedicated to incurring in this type of technology. In this way, the investigations that have been carried out on Candy-type solid fuel, which is a compound of potassium nitrate and sorbitol, have allowed the production of engines powerful enough to reach space, and which represents a unique technological advance in Latin America and an important development in experimental rocketry. In this way, following the engineering iterative design methodology was possible to design a 2-stage sounding rocket with 1 solid fuel engine in each one, which was then simulated in RockSim V9.0 software and reached an apogee of approximately 150 km above sea level. Similarly, a speed equal to 5 Mach was obtained, which after performing a finite element analysis, it was shown that the rocket is strong enough to be able to withstand such speeds. Under these premises, it was demonstrated that it is possible to build a high-power aerospace mission at low cost, using Candy-type solid fuel engines. For this reason, the feasibility of carrying out similar missions clearly depends on the ability to replicate the engines in the best way, since as mentioned above, the design of the rocket is adequate to reach supersonic speeds and reach space. Consequently, with a team of at least 3 members, the mission can be obtained in less than 3 months. Therefore, when publishing this project, it is intended to be a reference for future research in this field and benefit the industry.
Keywords: Aerospace missions, candy type solid propellant engines, design of solid rockets, experimental rocketry, low costs missions.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7982591 Novel Hybrid Approaches For Real Coded Genetic Algorithm to Compute the Optimal Control of a Single Stage Hybrid Manufacturing Systems
Authors: M. Senthil Arumugam, M.V.C. Rao
Abstract:
This paper presents a novel two-phase hybrid optimization algorithm with hybrid genetic operators to solve the optimal control problem of a single stage hybrid manufacturing system. The proposed hybrid real coded genetic algorithm (HRCGA) is developed in such a way that a simple real coded GA acts as a base level search, which makes a quick decision to direct the search towards the optimal region, and a local search method is next employed to do fine tuning. The hybrid genetic operators involved in the proposed algorithm improve both the quality of the solution and convergence speed. The phase–1 uses conventional real coded genetic algorithm (RCGA), while optimisation by direct search and systematic reduction of the size of search region is employed in the phase – 2. A typical numerical example of an optimal control problem with the number of jobs varying from 10 to 50 is included to illustrate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm. Several statistical analyses are done to compare the validity of the proposed algorithm with the conventional RCGA and PSO techniques. Hypothesis t – test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) test are also carried out to validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The results clearly demonstrate that the proposed algorithm not only improves the quality but also is more efficient in converging to the optimal value faster. They can outperform the conventional real coded GA (RCGA) and the efficient particle swarm optimisation (PSO) algorithm in quality of the optimal solution and also in terms of convergence to the actual optimum value.
Keywords: Hybrid systems, optimal control, real coded genetic algorithm (RCGA), Particle swarm optimization (PSO), Hybrid real coded GA (HRCGA), and Hybrid genetic operators.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18992590 Development of Low-Profile Antenna for Mini UAV with Reconnaissance Mission
Authors: Chien-Chun Hung, Yao-Jen Teng, Yung-Sheng Tien, Yu-Tsung Tsai
Abstract:
Microstrip antennas are conformable to planar and nonplanar surfaces, simple and inexpensive to fabricate using modern printed-circuit technology. Circular polarization of low-profile microstrip patch with high bandwidth is achieved in this research through the use of a three-cross-arms branch-line coupler with sequential rotated arrays, another low-profile antenna of hollow cylinder is also proposed and the function of reconnaissance with microstrip antenna on Mini UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) are evaluated in practical flight test.Keywords: low-profile antenna, Mini UAV, reconnaissance
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 23772589 Personal Digital Assistants for Fieldwork Training in College Campus
Authors: Takaharu Miyoshi, Tadahiko Higuchi
Abstract:
Education supported by mobile computers has been widely done for some time. Teachers have attempted to use mobile computers and to find concrete subjects for student-s fieldwork training in college education. The purpose of this research is to develop software for Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) to conduct fieldwork in our campus, and to report a fieldwork class using PDAs in the curriculum of the Department of Regional Environment Studies.
Keywords: Development of software for PDA, fieldwork training, computer supported education, experiential learning.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11842588 Exchange Rate Volatility, Its Determinants and Effects on the Manufacturing Sector in Nigeria
Authors: Chimaobi V. Okolo, Onyinye S. Ugwuanyi, Kenneth A. Okpala
Abstract:
This study evaluated the effect of exchange rate volatility on the manufacturing sector of Nigeria. The flow and stock market theories of exchange rate determination was adopted considering macroeconomic determinants such as balance of trade, trade openness, and net international investment. Furthermore, the influence of changes in parallel exchange rate, official exchange rate and real effective exchange rate was modeled on the manufacturing sector output. Vector autoregression techniques and vector error correction mechanism were adopted to explore the macroeconomic determinants of exchange rate fluctuation in Nigeria and to examine the influence of exchange rate volatility on the manufacturing sector output in Nigeria. The exchange rate showed an unstable and volatile movement in Nigeria. Official exchange rate significantly impacted on the manufacturing sector of Nigeria and shock to previous manufacturing sector output caused 60.76% of the fluctuation in the manufacturing sector output in Nigeria. Trade balance, trade openness and net international investments did not significantly determine exchange rate in Nigeria. However, own shock accounted for about 95% of the variation of exchange rate fluctuation in the short-run and long-run. Among other macroeconomic variables, net international investment accounted for about 2.85% variation of the real effective exchange rate fluctuation in the short-run and in the long-run. Monetary authorities should maintain stability of the exchange rates through proper management so as to encourage local production and government should formulate and implement policies that will develop other sectors of the economy as this will widen the country’s revenue base, reduce our over reliance on oil sector for our foreign exchange earnings and in turn reduce the shocks on our domestic economy.
Keywords: Exchange rate volatility, exchange rate determinants, manufacturing sector, official exchange rate, parallel exchange rate, real effective exchange rate.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19302587 The Formation of Motivational Sphere for Learning Activity under Conditions of Change of One of Its Leading Components
Authors: M. Rodionov, Z. Dedovets
Abstract:
This article discusses ways to implement a differentiated approach to developing academic motivation for mathematical studies which relies on defining the primary structural characteristics of motivation. The following characteristics are considered: features of realization of cognitive activity, meaningmaking characteristics, level of generalization and consistency of knowledge acquired by personal experience. The assessment of the present level of individual student understanding of each component of academic motivation is the basis for defining the relevant educational strategy for its further development.
Keywords: Learning activity, mathematics, motivation, student.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19542586 Performance Management Guide for Research and Development Process
Authors: Heejung Lee
Abstract:
Performance management seems to be essential in business area and is also an exciting topic. Despite significant and myriads of research efforts, performance management guide today as a rigorous approach is still in an immature state and metrics are often selected based on intuitive and heuristic approach. In R&D side, the difficulty to guide the proper performance management is even more increasing due to the natural characteristics of R&D such as unique or domain-specific problems. In our approach, we present R&D performance management guide considering various characteristics of R&D side: performance evaluation objectives, dimensions, metrics, and uncertainties of R&D sector.Keywords: Performance management, R&D, metrics.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15502585 Usage of Internet Technology in Financial Education and Financial Inclusion by Students of Economics Universities
Authors: B. Frączek
Abstract:
The paper analyses the usage of the Internet by university students in Visegrad Countries (4V Countries) who study economic fields in their formal and informal financial education and captures the areas of untapped potential of Internet in educational processes. Higher education and training, technological readiness, and the financial market development are in the group of pillars, that are key for efficiency driven economies. These three pillars have become an inspiration to the research on using the Internet in the financial education among economic university students as the group of the best educated people in finance. The financial education is a process that allows for improving the level of financial literacy. In turn, the financial literacy it is the set of financial knowledge, skills, awareness and patterns influencing the financial decisions. The level of financial literacy influences the level of financial well-being of individuals, determines the scale of saving of households and at the same time gives the greater chance for sustainable and more predictable development of the financial market with the positive impact on economy. The financial literacy is necessary for each group of society but its appropriate level is desirable especially in respect of economics students as future participants of financial markets as well as the experts and advisors in financial decision making. The low level of financial literacy is the great problem of many target groups in both developing and developed countries and the financial education is seen as the best way of improving this situation. Also the financial inclusion plays the special role in enhancing the level of financial literacy in the aspect of education by practice as well as due to interrelation between level of financial literacy and degree of financial inclusion. Despite many initiatives under financial education, the level of financial literacy is still very low. Scientists still search for new ways of solving this problem. One of the proposal is more effective usage of the new technology in financial education, especially the Internet, because of the growing popularity of e-learning and the increasing number of Internet users, especially among young people who are called the Generation Net. Due to special role of the university students studying the economics fields for the future financial markets, students of four universities from Visegrad Countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) were invited to participate in the survey. The aim of the article is to present the level and ways of using the Internet technology in financial education and indicating the so far unused or underused opportunities.
Keywords: Financial education, financial inclusion, financial literacy, usage of Internet in education.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15402584 Audiovisual Sources in Space and Time
Authors: G. Seksenbaeva, K. Atabayev, N. Alpusbaeva, T. Tulebayev, G. Sabdenova
Abstract:
In article are analyzed value of audiovisual sources which possesses high integrative potential and allows studying movement of information in the history - information movement from generation to the generation, in essence providing continuity of historical development and inheritance of traditions. Information thus fixed in them is considered as a source not only about last condition of society, but also significant for programming of its subsequent activity.Keywords: Historical source, audiovisual documents, audiovisual source, film documents, photo documents, phonodocuments, cultural heritage, National Archives, material culture, spiritual culture.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16582583 Maximum Power Point Tracking Using FLC Tuned with GA
Authors: Mohamed Amine Haraoubia, Abdelaziz Hamzaoui, Najib Essounbouli
Abstract:
The pursuit of the MPPT has led to the development of many kinds of controllers, one of which is the Fuzzy Logic controller, which has proven its worth. To further tune this controller this paper will discuss and analyze the use of Genetic Algorithms to tune the Fuzzy Logic Controller. It will provide an introduction to both systems, and test their compatibility and performance.
Keywords: Fuzzy logic controller (FLC), fuzzy logic (FL), genetic algorithm (GA), maximum power point (MPP), maximum power point tracking (MPPT).
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 26252582 Software Architecture and Support for Patient Tracking Systems in Critical Scenarios
Authors: Gianluca Cornetta, Abdellah Touhafi, David J. Santos, Jose Manuel Vazquez
Abstract:
In this work a new platform for mobile-health systems is presented. System target application is providing decision support to rescue corps or military medical personnel in combat areas. Software architecture relies on a distributed client-server system that manages a wireless ad-hoc networks hierarchy in which several different types of client operate. Each client is characterized for different hardware and software requirements. Lower hierarchy levels rely in a network of completely custom devices that store clinical information and patient status and are designed to form an ad-hoc network operating in the 2.4 GHz ISM band and complying with the IEEE 802.15.4 standard (ZigBee). Medical personnel may interact with such devices, that are called MICs (Medical Information Carriers), by means of a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) or a MDA (Medical Digital Assistant), and transmit the information stored in their local databases as well as issue a service request to the upper hierarchy levels by using IEEE 802.11 a/b/g standard (WiFi). The server acts as a repository that stores both medical evacuation forms and associated events (e.g., a teleconsulting request). All the actors participating in the diagnostic or evacuation process may access asynchronously to such repository and update its content or generate new events. The designed system pretends to optimise and improve information spreading and flow among all the system components with the aim of improving both diagnostic quality and evacuation process.Keywords: IEEE 802.15.4 (ZigBee), IEEE 802.11 a/b/g (WiFi), distributed client-server systems, embedded databases, issue trackers, ad-hoc networks.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20392581 Knowledge Relationship Model among User in Virtual Community
Authors: Fariba Haghbin, Othman Bin Ibrahim, Mohammad Reza Attarzadeh Niaki
Abstract:
With the development of virtual communities, there is an increase in the number of members in Virtual Communities (VCs). Many join VCs with the objective of sharing their knowledge and seeking knowledge from others. Despite the eagerness of sharing knowledge and receiving knowledge through VCs, there is no standard of assessing ones knowledge sharing capabilities and prospects of knowledge sharing. This paper developed a vector space model to assess the knowledge sharing prospect of VC users.Keywords: Knowledge sharing network, Virtual community, knowledge relationship, Vector Space Model.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13402580 The Application of Six Sigma to Integration of Computer Based Systems
Authors: Zenon Chaczko, Essam Rahali, Rizwan Tariq
Abstract:
This paper introduces a process for the module level integration of computer based systems. It is based on the Six Sigma Process Improvement Model, where the goal of the process is to improve the overall quality of the system under development. We also present a conceptual framework that shows how this process can be implemented as an integration solution. Finally, we provide a partial implementation of key components in the conceptual framework.
Keywords: Software Quality, Six Sigma, System Integration, 3SI Process, 3SI Conceptual Framework.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16712579 Studying the Effect of Climate Change on the Conditions of Isfahan-s Province Tourism
Authors: A.Gandomkar, F. Khorasanizadeh
Abstract:
Tourism is a phenomenon respected by the human communities since a long time ago. It has been evoloving continually based on a variety of social and economic needs and with respect to increasingly development of communication and considerable increase of tourist-s number and resulted exchange income has attained much out come such as employment for the communities. or the purpose of tourism development in this zone suitable times and locations need to be specified in the zone for the tourist-s attendance. One of the most important needs of the tourists is the knowledge of climate conditions and suitable times for sightseeing. In this survey, the climate trend condition has been identified for attending the tourists in Isfahan province using the modified tourism climate index (TCI) as well as SPSS, GIS, excel, surfer softwares. This index evoluates systematically the climate conditions for tourism affairs and activities using the monthly maximum mean parameters of daily temperature, daily mean temperature, minimum relative humidity, daily mean relative humidity, precipitation (mm), total sunny hours, wind speed and dust. The results obtaind using kendal-s correlation test show that the months January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December are significant and have an increasing trend that indicates the best condition for attending the tourists. S, P, T mean , T max and dust are estimated from 1976-2005 and do kendal-s correlation test again to see which parameter has been effective. Based on the test, we also observed on the effective parameters that the rate of dust in February, March, April, May, June, July, August, October and November is decreasing and precipitation in September and January is increasing and also the radiation rate in May and August is increasing that indicate a better condition of convenience. Maximum temperature in June is also decreasing. Isfahan province has two spring and fall peaks and the best places for tourism are in the north and western areas.
Keywords: Climate, Tourism, Correlation Test, Tourism Climate Index, Isfahan Province
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17002578 Development of Gas Chromatography Model: Propylene Concentration Using Neural Network
Authors: Areej Babiker Idris Babiker, Rosdiazli Ibrahim
Abstract:
Gas chromatography (GC) is the most widely used technique in analytical chemistry. However, GC has high initial cost and requires frequent maintenance. This paper examines the feasibility and potential of using a neural network model as an alternative whenever GC is unvailable. It can also be part of system verification on the performance of GC for preventive maintenance activities. It shows the performance of MultiLayer Perceptron (MLP) with Backpropagation structure. Results demonstrate that neural network model when trained using this structure provides an adequate result and is suitable for this purpose. cm.Keywords: Analyzer, Levenberg-Marquardt, Gas chromatography, Neural network
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17672577 Region-Based Segmentation of Generic Video Scenes Indexing
Authors: Aree A. Mohammed
Abstract:
In this work we develop an object extraction method and propose efficient algorithms for object motion characterization. The set of proposed tools serves as a basis for development of objectbased functionalities for manipulation of video content. The estimators by different algorithms are compared in terms of quality and performance and tested on real video sequences. The proposed method will be useful for the latest standards of encoding and description of multimedia content – MPEG4 and MPEG7.Keywords: Object extraction, Video indexing, Segmentation, Optical flow, Motion estimators.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13522576 New Insights for Soft Skills Development in Vietnamese Business Schools: Defining Essential Soft Skills for Maximizing Graduates’ Career Success
Authors: Hang T. T. Truong, Ronald S. Laura, Kylie Shaw
Abstract:
Within Vietnam's system of higher education, its schools of business play a vital role in supporting the country’s economic objectives. However, the crucial contribution of soft skills for maximal success within the business sector has to date not been adequately recognized by its business schools. This being so, the development of the business school curriculum in Vietnam has not been able to 'catch up', so to say, with the burgeoning need of students for a comprehensive soft skills program designed to meet the national and global business objectives of their potential employers. The burden of the present paper is first to reveal the results of our survey in Vietnam which make explicit the extent to which major Vietnamese industrial employers’ value the potential role that soft skill competencies can play in maximizing business success. Our final task will be to determine which soft skills employers discern as best serving to maximize the economic interests of Vietnam within the global marketplace. Semi-structured telephone interviews have been conducted with the 15 representative Head Employers of Vietnam's reputedly largest and most successful of the diverse business enterprises across Vietnam. The findings of the study indicate that all respondents highly value the increasing importance of soft skills in business success. Our critical analysis of respondent data reveals that 19 essential soft skills are deemed by employers as integral to business workplace efficacy and should thus be integrated into the formal business curriculum. We are confident that our study represents the first comprehensive and specific survey yet undertaken within the business sector in Vietnam which accesses and analyses the opinions of representative employers from major companies across the country in regard to the growing importance of 19 specific soft skills essential for maximizing overall business success. Our research findings also reveal that the integration into business school curriculums nationwide of the soft skills we have identified is of paramount importance to advance the national and global economic interests of Vietnam.Keywords: Business curriculum, business graduates, employers’ perception, soft skills.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24892575 Biocontrol Effectiveness of Indigenous Trichoderma Species against Meloidogyne javanica and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis lycopersici on Tomato
Authors: Hajji Lobna, Chattaoui Mayssa, Regaieg Hajer, M'Hamdi-Boughalleb Naima, Rhouma Ali, Horrigue-Raouani Najet
Abstract:
In this study, three local isolates of Trichoderma (Tr1: T. viride, Tr2: T. harzianum and Tr3: T. asperellum) were isolated and evaluated for their biocontrol effectiveness under in vitro conditions and in greenhouse. In vitro bioassay revealed a biopotential control against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis lycopersici and Meloidogyne javanica (RKN) separately. All species of Trichoderma exhibited biocontrol performance and (Tr1) Trichoderma viride was the most efficient. In fact, growth rate inhibition of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis lycopersici (FORL) was reached 75.5% with Tr1. Parasitism rate of root-knot nematode was 60% for juveniles and 75% for eggs with the same one. Pots experiment results showed that Tr1 and Tr2, compared to chemical treatment, enhanced the plant growth and exhibited better antagonism against root-knot nematode and root-rot fungi separated or combined. All Trichoderma isolates revealed a bioprotection potential against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis lycopersici. When pathogen fungi inoculated alone, Fusarium wilt index and browning vascular rate were reduced significantly with Tr1 (0.91, 2.38%) and Tr2 (1.5, 5.5%), respectively. In the case of combined infection with Fusarium and nematode, the same isolate of Trichoderma Tr1 and Tr2 decreased Fusarium wilt index at 1.1 and 0.83 and reduced the browning vascular rate at 6.5% and 6%, respectively. Similarly, the isolate Tr1 and Tr2 caused maximum inhibition of nematode multiplication. Multiplication rate was declined at 4% with both isolates either tomato infected by nematode separately or concomitantly with Fusarium. The chemical treatment was moderate in activity against Meloidogyne javanica and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis lycopersici alone and combined.Keywords: Trichoderma spp., Meloidogyne javanica, Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. radicis lycopersici, biocontrol.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15662574 Eco-Friendly Cleansers Initiation for Eco-Campsite Development in Khao Yai National Park, Thailand
Authors: T. Utarasakul
Abstract:
Environmental impact has occurred at Khao Yai National Park, especially the water pollution by tourist activities as a result of 800,000 tourists visiting annually. To develop an eco-campsite, eco-friendly cleansers were implemented in Lam Ta Khlong and Pha Kluay Mai Campsites for tourists and restaurants. The results indicated the positive effects of environmentally friendly cleansers on water quality in Lam Ta Khlong River and can be implemented in other protected areas to decrease chemical contamination in ecosystems.
Keywords: Sustainable Tourism Management, Eco-campsite, Khao Yai National Park.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21302573 Use of Information Technology in the Government of a State
Authors: Pavel E. Golosov, Vladimir I. Gorelov, Oksana L. Karelova
Abstract:
There are visible changes in the world organization, environment and health of national conscience that create a background for discussion on possible redefinition of global, state and regional management goals. Authors apply the sustainable development criteria to a hierarchical management scheme that is to lead the world community to non-contradictory growth. Concrete definitions are discussed in respect of decision-making process representing the state mostly. With the help of system analysis it is highlighted how to understand who would carry the distinctive sign of world leadership in the nearest future.
Keywords: Decision-making, information technology, public administration.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11052572 Next Generation Networks and Their Relation with Ad-hoc Networks
Authors: Hamid Barati, Ali Movaghar, Ali Barati, Arash Azizi Mazreah , Ehsan Shahsavari Gogheri, Faranak Mohsenzadeh
Abstract:
The communication networks development and advancement during two last decades has been toward a single goal and that is gradual change from circuit-switched networks to packed switched ones. Today a lot of networks operates are trying to transform the public telephone networks to multipurpose packed switch. This new achievement is generally called "next generation networks". In fact, the next generation networks enable the operators to transfer every kind of services (sound, data and video) on a network. First, in this report the definition, characteristics and next generation networks services and then ad-hoc networks role in the next generation networks are studied.Keywords: NGNs services, Ad-hoc Networks, NGN.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16952571 Development of a Tilt-Rotor Aircraft Model Using System Identification Technique
Authors: Antonio Vitale, Nicola Genito, Giovanni Cuciniello, Ferdinando Montemari
Abstract:
The introduction of tilt-rotor aircraft into the existing civilian air transportation system will provide beneficial effects due to tilt-rotor capability to combine the characteristics of a helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft into one vehicle. The disposability of reliable tilt-rotor simulation models supports the development of such vehicle. Indeed, simulation models are required to design automatic control systems that increase safety, reduce pilot's workload and stress, and ensure the optimal aircraft configuration with respect to flight envelope limits, especially during the most critical flight phases such as conversion from helicopter to aircraft mode and vice versa. This article presents a process to build a simplified tilt-rotor simulation model, derived from the analysis of flight data. The model aims to reproduce the complex dynamics of tilt-rotor during the in-flight conversion phase. It uses a set of scheduled linear transfer functions to relate the autopilot reference inputs to the most relevant rigid body state variables. The model also computes information about the rotor flapping dynamics, which are useful to evaluate the aircraft control margin in terms of rotor collective and cyclic commands. The rotor flapping model is derived through a mixed theoretical-empirical approach, which includes physical analytical equations (applicable to helicopter configuration) and parametric corrective functions. The latter are introduced to best fit the actual rotor behavior and balance the differences existing between helicopter and tilt-rotor during flight. Time-domain system identification from flight data is exploited to optimize the model structure and to estimate the model parameters. The presented model-building process was applied to simulated flight data of the ERICA Tilt-Rotor, generated by using a high fidelity simulation model implemented in FlightLab environment. The validation of the obtained model was very satisfying, confirming the validity of the proposed approach.
Keywords: Flapping Dynamics, Flight Dynamics, System Identification, Tilt-Rotor Modeling and Simulation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 12872570 Toward a Measure of Appropriateness of User Interfaces Adaptations Solutions
Authors: A. Siam, R. Maamri, Z. Sahnoun
Abstract:
The development of adaptive user interfaces (UI) presents for a long time an important research area in which researcher attempt to call upon the full resources and skills of several disciplines, The adaptive UI community holds a thorough knowledge regarding the adaptation of UIs with users and with contexts of use. Several solutions, models, formalisms, techniques and mechanisms were proposed to develop adaptive UI. In this paper, we propose an approach based on the fuzzy set theory for modeling the concept of the appropriateness of different solutions of UI adaptation with different situations for which interactive systems have to adapt their UIs.Keywords: Adaptive user interfaces, adaptation solution’s appropriateness, fuzzy sets.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19392569 Learning Factory for Changeability
Authors: Dennis Gossmann, Habil Peter Nyhuis
Abstract:
Amongst the consistently fluctuating conditions prevailing today, changeability represents a strategic key factor for a manufacturing company to achieve success on the international markets. In order to cope with turbulences and the increasing level of incalculability, not only the flexible design of production systems but in particular the employee as enabler of change provide the focus here. It is important to enable employees from manufacturing companies to participate actively in change events and in change decisions. To this end, the learning factory has been created, which is intended to serve the development of change-promoting competences and the sensitization of employees for the necessity of changes.Keywords: Changeability, human resources, learning factory.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17232568 The Study on Migration Strategy of Legacy System
Authors: Chao Qi, Fuyang Peng, Bo Deng, Xiaoyan Su
Abstract:
In the upgrade process of enterprise information systems, whether new systems will be success and their development will be efficient, depends on how to deal with and utilize those legacy systems. We propose an evaluation system, which comprehensively describes the capacity of legacy information systems in five aspects. Then a practical legacy systems evaluation method is scripted. Base on the evaluation result, we put forward 4 kinds of migration strategy: eliminated, maintenance, modification, encapsulating. The methods and strategies play important roles in practice.Keywords: Legacy Systems, Evaluation Method, Migration Strategy.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17122567 Adaptive Design of Large Prefabricated Concrete Panels Collective Housing
Authors: Daniel M. Muntean, Viorel Ungureanu
Abstract:
More than half of the urban population in Romania lives today in residential buildings made out of large prefabricated reinforced concrete panels. Since their initial design was made in the 1960’s, these housing units are now being technically and morally outdated, consuming large amounts of energy for heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting, while failing to meet the needs of the contemporary life-style. Due to their widespread use, the design of a system that improves their energy efficiency would have a real impact, not only on the energy consumption of the residential sector, but also on the quality of life that it offers. Furthermore, with the transition of today’s existing power grid to a “smart grid”, buildings could become an active element for future electricity networks by contributing in micro-generation and energy storage. One of the most addressed issues today is to find locally adapted strategies that can be applied considering the 20-20-20 EU policy criteria and to offer sustainable and innovative solutions for the cost-optimal energy performance of buildings adapted on the existing local market. This paper presents a possible adaptive design scenario towards sustainable retrofitting of these housing units. The apartments are transformed in order to meet the current living requirements and additional extensions are placed on top of the building, replacing the unused roof space, acting not only as housing units, but as active solar energy collection systems. An adaptive building envelope is ensured in order to achieve overall air-tightness and an elevator system is introduced to facilitate access to the upper levels.
Keywords: Adaptive building, energy efficiency, retrofitting, residential buildings, smart grid.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1035