Search results for: Business process
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 6150

Search results for: Business process

4950 Communication Styles of Business Students: A Comparison of Four National Cultures

Authors: Tiina Brandt, Isaac Wanasika

Abstract:

Culturally diverse global companies need to understand cultural differences between leaders and employees from different backgrounds. Communication is culturally contingent and has a significant impact on effective execution of leadership goals. The awareness of cultural variations related to communication and interactions will help leaders modify their own behavior, and consequently improve the execution of goals and avoid unnecessary faux pas. Our focus is on young adults that have experienced cultural integration, culturally diverse surroundings in schools and universities, and cultural travels. Our central research problem is to understand the impact of different national cultures on communication. We focus on four countries with distinct national cultures and spatial distribution. The countries are Finland, Indonesia, Russia and USA. Our sample is based on business students (n = 225) from various backgrounds in the four countries. Their responses of communication and leadership styles were analyzed using ANOVA and post-hoc test. Results indicate that culture impacts on communication behavior. Even young culturally-exposed adults with cultural awareness and experience demonstrate cultural differences in their behavior. Apparently, culture is a deeply seated trait that cannot be completely neutralized by environmental variables. Our study offers valuable input for leadership training programs and for expatriates when recognizing specific differences on leaders’ behavior due to culture.

Keywords: Culture, communication, Finland, Indonesia, Russia, USA.

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4949 Logistical Optimization of Nuclear Waste Flows during Decommissioning

Authors: G. Dottavio, M. F. Andrade, F. Renard, V. Cheutet, A.-L. L. S. Vercraene, P. Hoang, S. Briet, R. Dachicourt, Y. Baizet

Abstract:

An important number of technological equipment and high-skilled workers over long periods of time have to be mobilized during nuclear decommissioning processes. The related operations generate complex flows of waste and high inventory levels, associated to information flows of heterogeneous types. Taking into account that more than 10 decommissioning operations are on-going in France and about 50 are expected toward 2025: A big challenge is addressed today. The management of decommissioning and dismantling of nuclear installations represents an important part of the nuclear-based energy lifecycle, since it has an environmental impact as well as an important influence on the electricity cost and therefore the price for end-users. Bringing new technologies and new solutions into decommissioning methodologies is thus mandatory to improve the quality, cost and delay efficiency of these operations. The purpose of our project is to improve decommissioning management efficiency by developing a decision-support framework dedicated to plan nuclear facility decommissioning operations and to optimize waste evacuation by means of a logistic approach. The target is to create an easy-to-handle tool capable of i) predicting waste flows and proposing the best decommissioning logistics scenario and ii) managing information during all the steps of the process and following the progress: planning, resources, delays, authorizations, saturation zones, waste volume, etc. In this article we present our results from waste nuclear flows simulation during decommissioning process, including discrete-event simulation supported by FLEXSIM 3-D software. This approach was successfully tested and our works confirms its ability to improve this type of industrial process by identifying the critical points of the chain and optimizing it by identifying improvement actions. This type of simulation, executed before the start of the process operations on the basis of a first conception, allow ‘what-if’ process evaluation and help to ensure quality of the process in an uncertain context. The simulation of nuclear waste flows before evacuation from the site will help reducing the cost and duration of the decommissioning process by optimizing the planning and the use of resources, transitional storage and expensive radioactive waste containers. Additional benefits are expected for the governance system of the waste evacuation since it will enable a shared responsibility of the waste flows.

Keywords: Nuclear decommissioning, logistical optimization, decision-support framework, waste management.

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4948 An Approach for Coagulant Dosage Optimization Using Soft Jar Test: A Case Study of Bangkhen Water Treatment Plant

Authors: Ninlawat Phuangchoke, Waraporn Viyanon, Setta Sasananan

Abstract:

The most important process of the water treatment plant process is coagulation, which uses alum and poly aluminum chloride (PACL). Therefore, determining the dosage of alum and PACL is the most important factor to be prescribed. This research applies an artificial neural network (ANN), which uses the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm to create a mathematical model (Soft Jar Test) for chemical dose prediction, as used for coagulation, such as alum and PACL, with input data consisting of turbidity, pH, alkalinity, conductivity, and, oxygen consumption (OC) of the Bangkhen Water Treatment Plant (BKWTP), under the authority of the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority of Thailand. The data were collected from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019 in order to cover the changing seasons of Thailand. The input data of ANN are divided into three groups: training set, test set, and validation set. The coefficient of determination and the mean absolute errors of the alum model are 0.73, 3.18 and the PACL model are 0.59, 3.21, respectively.

Keywords: Soft jar test, jar test, water treatment plant process, artificial neural network.

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4947 A Proposal for a Secure and Interoperable Data Framework for Energy Digitalization

Authors: Hebberly Ahatlan

Abstract:

The process of digitizing energy systems involves transforming traditional energy infrastructure into interconnected, data-driven systems that enhance efficiency, sustainability, and responsiveness. As smart grids become increasingly integral to the efficient distribution and management of electricity from both fossil and renewable energy sources, the energy industry faces strategic challenges associated with digitalization and interoperability — particularly in the context of modern energy business models, such as virtual power plants (VPPs). The critical challenge in modern smart grids is to seamlessly integrate diverse technologies and systems, including virtualization, grid computing and service-oriented architecture (SOA), across the entire energy ecosystem. Achieving this requires addressing issues like semantic interoperability, Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) convergence, and digital asset scalability, all while ensuring security and risk management. This paper proposes a four-layer digitalization framework to tackle these challenges, encompassing persistent data protection, trusted key management, secure messaging, and authentication of IoT resources. Data assets generated through this framework enable AI systems to derive insights for improving smart grid operations, security, and revenue generation. Furthermore, this paper also proposes a Trusted Energy Interoperability Alliance as a universal guiding standard in the development of this digitalization framework to support more dynamic and interoperable energy markets.

Keywords: Digitalization, IT/OT convergence, semantic interoperability, TEIA alliance, VPP.

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4946 Slow, Wet and Catalytic Pyrolysis of Fowl Manure

Authors: Renzo Carta, Mario Cruccu, Francesco Desogus

Abstract:

This work presents the experimental results obtained at a pilot plant which works with a slow, wet and catalytic pyrolysis process of dry fowl manure. This kind of process mainly consists in the cracking of the organic matrix and in the following reaction of carbon with water, which is either already contained in the organic feed or added, to produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Reactions are conducted in a rotating reactor maintained at a temperature of 500°C; the required amount of water is about 30% of the dry organic feed. This operation yields a gas containing about 59% (on a volume basis) of hydrogen, 17% of carbon monoxide and other products such as light hydrocarbons (methane, ethane, propane) and carbon monoxide in lesser amounts. The gas coming from the reactor can be used to produce not only electricity, through internal combustion engines, but also heat, through direct combustion in industrial boilers. Furthermore, as the produced gas is devoid of both solid particles and pollutant species (such as dioxins and furans), the process (in this case applied to fowl manure) can be considered as an optimal way for the disposal and the contemporary energetic valorization of organic materials, in such a way that is not damaging to the environment.

Keywords: Brushwood, fowl manure, kenaf, pilot plant, pyrolysis, pyrolysis gas.

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4945 Integration Methods and Processes of Product Design and Flexible Production for Direct Production within the iCIM 3000 System

Authors: Roman Ružarovský, Radovan Holubek, Daynier Rolando Delgado Sobrino

Abstract:

Currently is characterized production engineering together with the integration of industrial automation and robotics such very quick view of to manufacture the products. The production range is continuously changing, expanding and producers have to be flexible in this regard. It means that need to offer production possibilities, which can respond to the quick change. Engineering product development is focused on supporting CAD software, such systems are mainly used for product design. That manufacturers are competitive, it should be kept procured machines made available capable of responding to output flexibility. In response to that problem is the development of flexible manufacturing systems, consisting of various automated systems. The integration of flexible manufacturing systems and subunits together with product design and of engineering is a possible solution for this issue. Integration is possible through the implementation of CIM systems. Such a solution and finding a hyphen between CAD and procurement system ICIM 3000 from Festo Co. is engaged in the research project and this contribution. This can be designed the products in CAD systems and watch the manufacturing process from order to shipping by the development of methods and processes of integration, This can be modeled in CAD systems products and watch the manufacturing process from order to shipping to develop methods and processes of integration, which will improve support for product design parameters by monitoring of the production process, by creating of programs for production using the CAD and therefore accelerates the a total of process from design to implementation.

Keywords: CAD- Computer Aided Design, CAM- Computer Aided Manufacturing, CIM- Computer integrated manufacturing, iCIM 3000, integration, direct production from CAD.

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4944 Retrieving Extended High Dynamic Range from Digital Negative Image - An Experiment on Architectural Photo Imaging

Authors: See Zi Siang, Khairul Hazrin Hashim, Harold Thwaites, Lee Xia Sheng, Ooi Wooi Har

Abstract:

The paper explores the development of an optimization of method and apparatus for retrieving extended high dynamic range from digital negative image. Architectural photo imaging can benefit from high dynamic range imaging (HDRI) technique for preserving and presenting sufficient luminance in the shadow and highlight clipping image areas. The HDRI technique that requires multiple exposure images as the source of HDRI rendering may not be effective in terms of time efficiency during the acquisition process and post-processing stage, considering it has numerous potential imaging variables and technical limitations during the multiple exposure process. This paper explores an experimental method and apparatus that aims to expand the dynamic range from digital negative image in HDRI environment. The method and apparatus explored is based on a single source of RAW image acquisition for the use of HDRI post-processing. It will cater the optimization in order to avoid and minimize the conventional HDRI photographic errors caused by different physical conditions during the photographing process and the misalignment of multiple exposed image sequences. The study observes the characteristics and capabilities of RAW image format as digital negative used for the retrieval of extended high dynamic range process in HDRI environment.

Keywords: High Dynamic Range Image, Photography Workflow Optimization, Digital Negative Image, Architectural Image

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4943 An Automatic Model Transformation Methodology Based on Semantic and Syntactic Comparisons and the Granularity Issue Involved

Authors: Tiexin Wang, Sebastien Truptil, Frederick Benaben

Abstract:

Model transformation, as a pivotal aspect of Modeldriven engineering, attracts more and more attentions both from researchers and practitioners. Many domains (enterprise engineering, software engineering, knowledge engineering, etc.) use model transformation principles and practices to serve to their domain specific problems; furthermore, model transformation could also be used to fulfill the gap between different domains: by sharing and exchanging knowledge. Since model transformation has been widely used, there comes new requirement on it: effectively and efficiently define the transformation process and reduce manual effort that involved in. This paper presents an automatic model transformation methodology based on semantic and syntactic comparisons, and focuses particularly on granularity issue that existed in transformation process. Comparing to the traditional model transformation methodologies, this methodology serves to a general purpose: crossdomain methodology. Semantic and syntactic checking measurements are combined into a refined transformation process, which solves the granularity issue. Moreover, semantic and syntactic comparisons are supported by software tool; manual effort is replaced in this way.

Keywords: Automatic model transformation, granularity issue, model-driven engineering, semantic and syntactic comparisons.

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4942 Study of Compost Maturity during Humification Process using UV-Spectroscopy

Authors: N. Sanmanee, K. Panishkan, K. Obsuwan, S. Dharmvanij

Abstract:

The increments of aromatic structures are widely used to monitor the degree of humification. Compost derived from mix manures mixed with agricultural wastes was studied. The compost collected at day 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 49, 77, 91, 105, and 119 was divided into 3 stages, initial stage at day 0, thermophilic stage during day 1-48, and mature stage during day 49-119. The change of highest absorptions at wavelength range between 210-235 nm during day 0- 49 implied that small molecules such as nitrates and carboxylic occurred faster than the aromatic molecules that were found at wavelength around 280 nm. The ratio of electron-transfer band at wavelength 253 nm by the benzonoid band at wavelength 230 nm (E253/E230) also gradually increased during the fermenting period indicating the presence of O-containing functional groups. This was in agreement with the shift change from aliphatic to aromatic structures as shown by the relationship with C/N and H/C ratios (r = - 0.631 and -0.717, p< 0.05) since both were decreasing. Although the amounts of humic acid (HA) were not different much during the humification process, the UV spectral deconvolution showed better qualitative characteristics to help in determining the compost quality. From this study, the compost should be used at day 49 and should not be kept longer than 3 months otherwise the quality of HA would decline regardless of the amounts of HA that might be rising. This implied that other processes, such as mineralization had an influence on the humification process changing HA-s structure and its qualities.

Keywords: Compost maturity, UV spectroscopy, humification, humic acid

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4941 Reduce of Fermentation Time in Composting Process by Using a Special Microbial Consortium

Authors: S.H. Mirdamadian, S.M. Khayam-Nekoui, H. Ghanavati

Abstract:

Composting is the process in which municipal solid waste (MSW) and other organic waste materials such as biosolids and manures are decomposed through the action of bacteria and other microorganisms into a stable granular material which, applied to land, as soil conditioner. Microorganisms, especially those that are able to degrade polymeric organic material have a key role in speed up this process. The aim of this study has been established to isolation of microorganisms with high ability to production extracellular enzymes for degradation of natural polymers that are exists in MSW for decreasing time of degradation phase. Our experimental study for isolation designed in two phases: in first phase we isolated degrading microorganism with selected media that consist a special natural polymer such as cellulose, starch, lipids and etc as sole source of carbon. In second phase we selected microorganism that had high degrading enzyme production with enzymatic assay for seed production. However, our findings in pilot scale have indicated that usage of this microbial consortium had high efficiency for decreasing degradation phase.

Keywords: Biodegradation, Compost, Municipal Solid Waste, Waste Management.

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4940 An Exploration of the Dimensions of Place-Making: A South African Case Study

Authors: W. J. Strydom, K. Puren

Abstract:

Place-making is viewed here as an empowering process in which people represent, improve and maintain their spatial (natural or built) environment. With the above-mentioned in mind, place-making is multi-dimensional and include a spatial dimension (including visual properties or the end product/plan), a procedural dimension during which (negotiation/discussion of ideas with all relevant stakeholders in terms of end product/plan) and a psychological dimension (inclusion of intrinsic values and meanings related to a place in the end product/plan). These three represent dimensions of place-making. The purpose of this paper is to explore these dimensions of place-making in a case study of a local community in Ikageng, Potchefstroom, North-West Province, South Africa. This case study represents an inclusive process that strives to empower a local community (forcefully relocated due to Apartheid legislation in South Africa). This case study focussed on the inclusion of participants in the decision-making process regarding their daily environment. By means of focus group discussions and a collaborative design workshop, data is generated and ultimately creates a linkage with the theoretical dimensions of place-making. This paper contributes to the field of spatial planning due to the exploration of the dimensions of place-making and the relevancy of this process on spatial planning (especially in a South African setting).

Keywords: Case study, place-making, spatial planning, spatial dimension, procedural dimension, psychological dimension.

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4939 Development of a Kinetic Model for the Photodegradation of 4-Chlorophenol using a XeBr Excilamp

Authors: M. Gomez, M. D. Murcia, E. Gomez, J. L. Gomez, N. Christofi

Abstract:

Excilamps are new UV sources with great potential for application in wastewater treatment. In the present work, a XeBr excilamp emitting radiation at 283 nm has been used for the photodegradation of 4-chlorophenol within a range of concentrations from 50 to 500 mg L-1. Total removal of 4-chlorophenol was achieved for all concentrations assayed. The two main photoproduct intermediates formed along the photodegradation process, benzoquinone and hydroquinone, although not being completely removed, remain at very low residual concentrations. Such concentrations are insignificant compared to the 4-chlorophenol initial ones and non-toxic. In order to simulate the process and scaleup, a kinetic model has been developed and validated from the experimental data.

Keywords: 4-chlorophenol, excilamps, kinetic model, photodegradation.

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4938 Daemon- Based Distributed Deadlock Detection and Resolution

Authors: Z. RahimAlipour, A. T. Haghighat

Abstract:

detecting the deadlock is one of the important problems in distributed systems and different solutions have been proposed for it. Among the many deadlock detection algorithms, Edge-chasing has been the most widely used. In Edge-chasing algorithm, a special message called probe is made and sent along dependency edges. When the initiator of a probe receives the probe back the existence of a deadlock is revealed. But these algorithms are not problem-free. One of the problems associated with them is that they cannot detect some deadlocks and they even identify false deadlocks. A key point not mentioned in the literature is that when the process is waiting to obtain the required resources and its execution has been blocked, how it can actually respond to probe messages in the system. Also the question of 'which process should be victimized in order to achieve a better performance when multiple cycles exist within one single process in the system' has received little attention. In this paper, one of the basic concepts of the operating system - daemon - will be used to solve the problems mentioned. The proposed Algorithm becomes engaged in sending probe messages to the mandatory daemons and collects enough information to effectively identify and resolve multi-cycle deadlocks in distributed systems.

Keywords: Distributed system, distributed deadlock detectionand resolution, daemon, false deadlock.

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4937 Minimization Entropic Applied to Rotary Dryers to Reduce the Energy Consumption

Authors: I. O. Nascimento, J. T. Manzi

Abstract:

The drying process is an important operation in the chemical industry and it is widely used in the food, grain industry and fertilizer industry. However, for demanding a considerable consumption of energy, such a process requires a deep energetic analysis in order to reduce operating costs. This paper deals with thermodynamic optimization applied to rotary dryers based on the entropy production minimization, aiming at to reduce the energy consumption. To do this, the mass, energy and entropy balance was used for developing a relationship that represents the rate of entropy production. The use of the Second Law of Thermodynamics is essential because it takes into account constraints of nature. Since the entropy production rate is minimized, optimals conditions of operations can be established and the process can obtain a substantial gain in energy saving. The minimization strategy had been led using classical methods such as Lagrange multipliers and implemented in the MATLAB platform. As expected, the preliminary results reveal a significant energy saving by the application of the optimal parameters found by the procedure of the entropy minimization It is important to say that this method has shown easy implementation and low cost.

Keywords: Drying, entropy minimization, modeling dryers, thermodynamic optimization.

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4936 Hybrid Approach for Software Defect Prediction Using Machine Learning with Optimization Technique

Authors: C. Manjula, Lilly Florence

Abstract:

Software technology is developing rapidly which leads to the growth of various industries. Now-a-days, software-based applications have been adopted widely for business purposes. For any software industry, development of reliable software is becoming a challenging task because a faulty software module may be harmful for the growth of industry and business. Hence there is a need to develop techniques which can be used for early prediction of software defects. Due to complexities in manual prediction, automated software defect prediction techniques have been introduced. These techniques are based on the pattern learning from the previous software versions and finding the defects in the current version. These techniques have attracted researchers due to their significant impact on industrial growth by identifying the bugs in software. Based on this, several researches have been carried out but achieving desirable defect prediction performance is still a challenging task. To address this issue, here we present a machine learning based hybrid technique for software defect prediction. First of all, Genetic Algorithm (GA) is presented where an improved fitness function is used for better optimization of features in data sets. Later, these features are processed through Decision Tree (DT) classification model. Finally, an experimental study is presented where results from the proposed GA-DT based hybrid approach is compared with those from the DT classification technique. The results show that the proposed hybrid approach achieves better classification accuracy.

Keywords: Decision tree, genetic algorithm, machine learning, software defect prediction.

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4935 Daily Site Risks Associated with Construction Projects and On-spot Corrective Measurements: Case Study of Revamping Projects in Kuwait Oil Company Fields Area

Authors: Yousef S. Al-Othman

Abstract:

The growth and expansion of the industrial facilities comes proportional to the market increasing demand of products and services. Furthermore, raw material producers such as oil companies usually undergo massive revamping projects to maintain a synchronized supply. These revamping projects are usually delivered through challenging construction projects held and associated with daily site risks related to the construction process. Henceforth, a case study related to these risks and corresponding on-spot corrective measurements has been made on a certain number of construction project contractors at Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) to derive the benefits and overall effectiveness of the on-spot corrective measurements during the construction phase of a project, and how would the same help in avoiding major incidents, ensuring a smooth, cost effective and on time delivery of the project. Findings of this case study shall have an added value to the overall risk management process by minimizing the daily site risks that may affect the project lead time, resulting in an undisturbed on-site construction process.

Keywords: Oil and gas, risk management, construction projects, project lead time.

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4934 Detecting the Edge of Multiple Images in Parallel

Authors: Prakash K. Aithal, U. Dinesh Acharya, Rajesh Gopakumar

Abstract:

Edge is variation of brightness in an image. Edge detection is useful in many application areas such as finding forests, rivers from a satellite image, detecting broken bone in a medical image etc. The paper discusses about finding edge of multiple aerial images in parallel. The proposed work tested on 38 images 37 colored and one monochrome image. The time taken to process N images in parallel is equivalent to time taken to process 1 image in sequential. Message Passing Interface (MPI) and Open Computing Language (OpenCL) is used to achieve task and pixel level parallelism respectively.

Keywords: Edge detection, multicore, GPU, openCL, MPI.

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4933 Optimization of Surface Finish in Milling Operation Using Live Tooling via Taguchi Method

Authors: Harish Kumar Ponnappan, Joseph C. Chen

Abstract:

The main objective of this research is to optimize the surface roughness of a milling operation on AISI 1018 steel using live tooling on a HAAS ST-20 lathe. In this study, Taguchi analysis is used to optimize the milling process by investigating the effect of different machining parameters on surface roughness. The L9 orthogonal array is designed with four controllable factors with three different levels each and an uncontrollable factor, resulting in 18 experimental runs. The optimal parameters determined from Taguchi analysis were feed rate – 76.2 mm/min, spindle speed 1150 rpm, depth of cut – 0.762 mm and 2-flute TiN coated high-speed steel as tool material. The process capability Cp and process capability index Cpk values were improved from 0.62 and -0.44 to 1.39 and 1.24 respectively. The average surface roughness values from the confirmation runs were 1.30 µ, decreasing the defect rate from 87.72% to 0.01%. The purpose of this study is to efficiently utilize the Taguchi design to optimize the surface roughness in a milling operation using live tooling.

Keywords: Live tooling, surface roughness, Taguchi analysis, Computer Numerical Control (CNC) milling operation, CNC turning operation.

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4932 Bioethanol: Indonesian Macro-Algae as a Renewable Feedstock for Liquid Fuel

Authors: T. Poespowati, E. Marsyahyo, R. Kartika-Dewi

Abstract:

This experimental study aims at studying the conversion of macro-algae into bioethanol under several steps of procedure: preparation, pre-treatment, fermentation, and distillation. The main objective of this work was to investigate the role of buffer’s type as a stabiliser of pH level and fermentation time on the yield of ethanol. For this purpose, experiments were carried out on biomass macro-algae to de-couple the pre-treatment and fermentation processes from those associated with distillation process. β- glucosidase was used as cellulose decomposer during hydrolysis step and yeast was used during fermentation process. The species of macro-algae utilised as energy feedstock was Ulva lactuca and it was harvested from southern coast of Central of Java Island – Indonesia. Experiments were conducted in a simple fermenter over a different buffer: citrate buffer and acetic buffer, and over a range of fermentation times between 5 to 20 days. The ethanol production was found to be significantly affected by both variables. The optimum time of fermentation was 10 days with citrate buffer; result in 0.88458% of ethanol, and the ethanol content after distillation process was shown 0.985015%.

Keywords: Fermentation, ulva-lactuca, buffer, β-glucosidase, bioethanol.

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4931 Organizational Commitment of Anadolu University Open Education Faculty Students

Authors: Emine Demiray, Şensu Curabay

Abstract:

Distance education program is a dimension of contemporary and new education technologies. Concepts and applications in this field are the results of a series of educational demands and developments in various communication and education technologies. Distance education applications have some conceptual bases. These are creating new education opportunities, realizing work-education unity, getting democratic in education, lifelong education, tendency to individual matters, effective use of institutions, integration of technology and education, tendency to individual and social needs, taking three dimensional integration as the main principle (publishing, printed materials and face to face education), reaching maximum mass, individual and mass education integrity and education demand and financial matters balance. Economics, Business Administration and Open Education faculties, which have been giving education within Anadolu University since 1982 in Turkey, are carrying on education with nearly 1.000.000 students. The aim of this study is to determine organizational commitment levels of students who have been studying at Anadolu University Economics, Business Administration and Open Education faculties in the scope of affective, continuance and nominative commitment in Allen&Meyer model. In the study, organizational commitment of the Economics, Business Administration and Open Education faculty students, who are receiving education by means of distance education, to their faculties is dealt after introducing Anadolu University Distance Education system which gives higher education via distance education method in Turkey. In order to increase the success level of faculties it is required for students to have high level of organizational commitment to their faculties. A questionnaire has been applied by using “Organizational Commitment Scale", developed by Meyer&Allen to determine organizational commitments of Economics, Business Administration and Open Education students. Organizational commitment is dealt with as affective, continuance and nominative commitment. The questionnaire was applied face to face to randomly chosen 500 students living in Eskişehir and the data was downloaded to the computer by using SPSS program and the results were analyzed in terms of demographic features (gender, age, marital status, years of study, work and income level) of students by using frequency test, ttest and ANOVA test. As a result of these analyses, when the comments of Open Education Faculty students on levels of affective, continuance and nominative commitment to their faculties were examined, it has been revealed that continuance commitment level has the highest rate. Among the female participants; continuance commitment is high in the age range of 30-40, for normative commitment it is 17-22. However no dominant age range was defined for affective commitment. Regarding the marital status; continuance commitment average is higher among married participants; but nominative affective commitment average is higher among single participants. As to the years of study, affective and continuance commitment is higher among senior students while normative commitment is higher among junior students. Moreover; in terms of continuance, affective and normative commitment, those who do not work and have low income have higher level of all there commitment types than those who work and have relatively high income.

Keywords: Open education, Organizational commitment, Distance education.

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4930 The Framework of System Safety for Multi Human-in-The-Loop System

Authors: Hideyuki Shintani, Ichiro Koshijima

Abstract:

In Cyber Physical System (CPS), if there are a large number of persons in the process, a role of person in CPS might be different comparing with the one-man system. It is also necessary to consider how Human-in-The-Loop Cyber Physical Systems (HiTLCPS) ensure safety of each person in the loop process. In this paper, the authors discuss a system safety framework with an illustrative example with STAMP model to clarify what point for safety should be considered and what role of person in the should have.

Keywords: Cyber Physical System, Human-in-The-Loop, Safety, STAMP model.

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4929 Automated Separation of Organic Liquids through Their Boiling Points

Authors: Muhammad Tahir Qadri, Syed Shafi-Uddin Qadri, Faizan Farid, Nabeel Abid

Abstract:

This paper discuss the separation of the miscible liquids by means of fractional distillation. For complete separation of liquids, the process of heating, condensation, separation and storage is done automatically to achieve the objective. PIC micro-controller has been used to control each and every process of the work. The controller also controls the storage process by activating and deactivating the conveyors. The liquids are heated which on reaching their respective boiling points evaporate and enter the condensation chamber where they convert into liquid. The liquids are then directed to their respective tanks by means of stepper motor which moves in three directions, each movement into different tank. The tank on filling sends the signal to controller which then opens the solenoid valves. The tank is emptied into the beakers below the nozzle. As the beaker filled, the nozzle closes and the conveyors come into operation. The filled beaker is replaced by an empty beaker from behind. The work can be used in oil industries, chemical industries and paint industries.

Keywords: Miscible Liquid Separation Unit, Distillation, Waste Water Treatment, Organic Liquids Collection.

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4928 Optimization of Petroleum Refinery Configuration Design with Logic Propositions

Authors: Cheng Seong Khor, Xiao Qi Yeoh

Abstract:

This work concerns the topological optimization problem for determining the optimal petroleum refinery configuration. We are interested in further investigating and hopefully advancing the existing optimization approaches and strategies employing logic propositions to conceptual process synthesis problems. In particular, we seek to contribute to this increasingly exciting area of chemical process modeling by addressing the following potentially important issues: (a) how the formulation of design specifications in a mixed-logical-and-integer optimization model can be employed in a synthesis problem to enrich the problem representation by incorporating past design experience, engineering knowledge, and heuristics; and (b) how structural specifications on the interconnectivity relationships by space (states) and by function (tasks) in a superstructure should be properly formulated within a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model. The proposed modeling technique is illustrated on a case study involving the alternative processing routes of naphtha, in which significant improvement in the solution quality is obtained.

Keywords: Mixed-integer linear programming (MILP), petroleum refinery, process synthesis, superstructure.

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4927 Orders Preparation and Control on the Productive Process Efficiency Preparation

Authors: F. Charrua-Santos, S. Dias, J. Matias, F. Brójo, S. Azevedo.

Abstract:

The main objective of this paper is to analyse the influence of preparation and control of orders on performance. The focused activities explored in this research are: procurement, production and distribution. These changes in performance were obtained through improvement of the supply chain. It is proved using all the company activities that it is possible to increase de efficiency and do services in an adequate way, placing the products in the market efficiently. For that, it was explored the importance of the supply chain, with privilege to the practical environment and the quantification of the obtained results.

Keywords: Competitiveness, Order Preparation and Control, Procurement Process and Operations Efficiency, Supply Chain Global Costs

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4926 T-DOF PID Controller Design using Characteristic Ratio Assignment Method for Quadruple Tank Process

Authors: Tianchai Suksri, U-thai Sritheeravirojana, Arjin Numsomran, Viriya Kongrattana, Thongchai Werataweemart

Abstract:

A control system design with Characteristic Ratio Assignment (CRA) is proven that effective for SISO control design. But the control system design for MIMO via CRA is not concrete procedure. In this paper presents the control system design method for quadruple-tank process via CRA. By using the decentralized method for both minimum phase and non-minimum phase are made. The results from PI and PID controller design via CRA can be illustrated the validity of our approach by MATLAB.

Keywords: CRA, Quadruple-Tank.

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4925 Control Chart Pattern Recognition Using Wavelet Based Neural Networks

Authors: Jun Seok Kim, Cheong-Sool Park, Jun-Geol Baek, Sung-Shick Kim

Abstract:

Control chart pattern recognition is one of the most important tools to identify the process state in statistical process control. The abnormal process state could be classified by the recognition of unnatural patterns that arise from assignable causes. In this study, a wavelet based neural network approach is proposed for the recognition of control chart patterns that have various characteristics. The procedure of proposed control chart pattern recognizer comprises three stages. First, multi-resolution wavelet analysis is used to generate time-shape and time-frequency coefficients that have detail information about the patterns. Second, distance based features are extracted by a bi-directional Kohonen network to make reduced and robust information. Third, a back-propagation network classifier is trained by these features. The accuracy of the proposed method is shown by the performance evaluation with numerical results.

Keywords: Control chart pattern recognition, Multi-resolution wavelet analysis, Bi-directional Kohonen network, Back-propagation network, Feature extraction.

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4924 Web Service Architecture for Computer-Adaptive Testing on e-Learning

Authors: M. Phankokkruad, K. Woraratpanya

Abstract:

This paper proposes a Web service and serviceoriented architecture (SOA) for a computer-adaptive testing (CAT) process on e-learning systems. The proposed architecture is developed to solve an interoperability problem of the CAT process by using Web service. The proposed SOA and Web service define all services needed for the interactions between systems in order to deliver items and essential data from Web service to the CAT Webbased application. These services are implemented in a XML-based architecture, platform independence and interoperability between the Web service and CAT Web-based applications.

Keywords: Web service, service-oriented architecture, computer-adaptive testing, e-learning, interoperability

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4923 Influence of Various Factors on Stability of CoSPc in LPG Sweetening Process

Authors: Ali Samadi Afshar, Hamed Harrafi, S.M.Javad Gharib Zahedi

Abstract:

IFP Group Technology “Sulfrex process" was used in Iran-s South Pars Gas Complex Refineries for removing sulfur compounds such as mercaptans, carbonyl sulfide and hydrogen sulfide, which uses sulfonated cobalt phthalocyanine dispersed in alkaline solution as catalyst. In this technology, catalyst and alkaline solution were used circularly. However the stability of catalyst due to effect of some parameters would reduce with the running of the unit and therefore sweetening efficiency would be decreased. Hence, the aim of this research is study the factors effecting on the stability of catalyst.

Keywords: sulfonated cobalt phthalocyanine, mercaptans, stability, catalyst, sulfur.

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4922 SATA: A Web Based Scheduling Support System

Authors: Rajeswari Raju, Saiful Nizam Warris, Hazlifah Mohd Rusli

Abstract:

Developing a university course schedule is difficult. This is due to the limitations in the resources available. The process is made even harder with different faculties or departments having different ways of stating their schedule requirements. The person in charge of taking the schedule requirements and turning them into a proper course schedule is not only burden with the task of allocating the appropriate classes and time to lecturers and students, they also need to understand the schedule requirements. Therefore a scheduling support system named SATA is developed to assist ICRESS in the course scheduling process. SATA has been put to use for several semesters and the results have been encouraging. It won a bronze medal in the 2008 Invention, Innovation and Design competition (IID-08) and has been submitted to be patented in October 2008

Keywords: Course Scheduling, Scheduling Tool Aid.

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4921 Achieving Sustainable Development through Transformative Pedagogies in Universities

Authors: Eugene Allevato

Abstract:

Developing a responsible personal worldview is central to sustainable development, but achieving quality education to promote transformative learning for sustainability is thus far, poorly understood. Most programs involving education for sustainable development rely on changing behavior, rather than attitudes. The emphasis is on the scientific and utilitarian aspect of sustainability with negligible importance on the intrinsic value of nature. Campus sustainability projects include building sustainable gardens and implementing energy-efficient upgrades, instead of focusing on educating for sustainable development through exploration of students’ values and beliefs. Even though green technology adoption maybe the right thing to do, most schools are not targeting the root cause of the environmental crisis; they are just providing palliative measures. This study explores the under-examined factors that lead to pro-environmental behavior by investigating the environmental perceptions of both college business students and personnel of green organizations. A mixed research approach of qualitative, based on structured interviews, and quantitative instruments was developed including 30 college-level students’ interviews and 40 green organization staff members involved in sustainable activities. The interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed for analysis. Categorization of the responses to the open‐ended questions was conducted with the purpose of identifying the main types of factors influencing attitudes and correlating with behaviors. Overall the findings of this study indicated a lack of appreciation for nature, and inability to understand interconnectedness and apply critical thinking. The results of the survey conducted on undergraduate students indicated that the responses of business and liberal arts students by independent t-test were significantly different, with a p‐value of 0.03. While liberal arts students showed an understanding of human interdependence with nature and its delicate balance, business students seemed to believe that humans were meant to rule over the rest of nature. This result was quite intriguing from the perspective that business students will be defining markets, influencing society, controlling and managing businesses that supposedly, in the face of climate change, shall implement sustainable activities. These alarming results led to the focus on green businesses in order to better understand their motivation to engage in sustainable activities. Additionally, a probit model revealed that childhood exposure to nature has a significantly positive impact in pro-environmental attitudes to most of the New Ecological Paradigm scales. Based on these findings, this paper discusses educators including Socrates, John Dewey and Paulo Freire in the implementation of eco-pedagogy and transformative learning following a curriculum with emphasis on critical and systems thinking, which are deemed to be key ingredients in quality education for sustainable development.

Keywords: Eco-pedagogy, environmental behavior, quality education for sustainable development, transformative learning.

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