Search results for: Citizen-led assessment

Authors: Konstantinos Sofianos, Michail Stefanidakis

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Nowadays, despite the great advances in technology, most educational frameworks lack a strong educational design basis. E-learning has become prevalent, but it faces various challenges such as student isolation and lack of quality in the learning process. An intelligent learning system provides a student with educational material according to their learning background and learning preferences. It records full information about the student, such as demographic information, learning styles, and academic performance. This information allows the system to be fully adapted to the student’s needs. In this paper, we propose a framework and an ontology for music education, consisting of the learner model and all elements of the learning process (learning objects, teaching methods, learning activities, assessment). This framework can be integrated into an intelligent learning system and used for music education in schools for the development of professional skills and beyond.

Keywords: Intelligent learning systems, e-learning, music education, ontology, semantic web.

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Authors: Yiannis Smirlis, Dimitris K. Despotis

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This study performs a comparative analysis of the 21 Greek Universities in terms of their public funding, awarded for covering their operating expenditure. First it introduces a DEA/MCDM model that allocates the fund into four expenditure factors in the most favorable way for each university. Then, it presents a common, consensual assessment model to reallocate the amounts, remaining in the same level of total public budget. From the analysis it derives that a number of universities cannot justify the public funding in terms of their size and operational workload. For them, the sufficient reduction of their public funding amount is estimated as a future target. Due to the lack of precise data for a number of expenditure criteria, the analysis is based on a mixed crisp-ordinal data set.

Keywords: Data envelopment analysis, Greek universities, operating expenditures, ordinal data.

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Authors: J. Marzbanrad, A. Yadollahi

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In the present paper, Fatigue life assessment of an anti-roll bar component of a passenger vehicle, is investigated by ANSYS 11 software. A stress analysis is also carried out by the finite element technique for the determination of highly stressed regions on the bar. Anti-roll bar is a suspension element used at the front, rear, or at both ends of a car that reduces body roll by resisting any unequal vertical motion between the pair of wheels to which it is connected. As a first stage, fatigue damage models proposed by some well-known references and the corresponding assumptions are discussed and some enhancements are proposed. Then, fracture analysis of an anti-roll bar of an automobile is carried out. The analysed type of the anti-roll bar is especially important as many cases are reported about the fracture after a 100,000 km of travel fatigue and fracture conditions. This paper demonstrates fatigue life of an anti-roll bar and then evaluated by experimental analytically results from other researcher.

Keywords: Anti-roll bar, Fracture, Fatigue life, Random loading

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Authors: R. Alipour, F. Nadjarian, A. Alinaghizade

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Considering complexity of products, new geometrical design and investment tolerances that are necessary, measuring and dimensional controlling involve modern and more precise methods. Photo digitizing method using two cameras to record pictures and utilization of conventional method named “cloud points" and data analysis by the use of ATOUS software, is known as modern and efficient in mentioned context. In this paper, benefits of photo digitizing method in evaluating sampling of machining processes have been put forward. For example, assessment of geometrical integrity surface in 5-axis milling process and measurement of carbide tool wear in turning process, can be can be brought forward. Advantages of this method comparing to conventional methods have been expressed.

Keywords: photo digitizing, tool wear, geometrical integrity, cloud points

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Authors: Mateen Abbas, Abdul Muqeet Khan, Muhammad Rafique Asi, Javed Akhtar

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Mycotoxin (aflatoxins) contamination of peanuts is a great concern for human health. A total of 72 samples of unripe, roasted, and salty peanuts were collected randomly from Pothohar plateau of Pakistan for the assessment of aflatoxin. Samples were dried, ground and extracted by acetonitrile (84%). The filtered extracts were cleaned up by MycoSep-226 and analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography with flourescence detector. Quantification limit of Aflatoxin was 1 μg/kg and 70% Recovery was observed in spiked samples in the range 1–10 μg/kg. The screening of mycotoxins indicated that aflatoxins were present in most of the samples being detected in 82%, in concentrations from 14.25 μg/kg to 98.80 μg/kg. Optimal conditions for mycotoxin production and fungal growth are frequently found in the crop fields as well as in store houses. Human exposure of such toxin can be controlled by pointed out such awareness and implemented the regulations.

Keywords: Aflatoxin, HPLC, Pakistan, Peanuts, Punjab

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Authors: Niranjali Jayasuirya, Majell Backhausen

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Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) features are increasingly used to treat and manage polluted stormwater runoff in urbanised areas. It is important to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the infrastructure in achieving their intended performance targets after constructing and operating these features overtime. The paper presents the various methods of analysis used to assess the effectiveness of the in-situ WSUD features, such as: onsite visual inspections during operational and non operational periods, maintenance audits and periodic water quality testing. The results will contribute to a better understanding of the operational and maintenance needs of in-situ WSUD features and assist in providing recommendations to better manage life cycle performance.

Keywords: Bio-retention swales, Maintenance plan, Operational plan, Water Sensitive Urban Design, Water quality improvement.

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Authors: E. E. Marschalko, K. Kalcza-Janosi, I. Kotta, B. Bibok

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There is a scarcity of validated instruments in Hungarian for the assessment of self-determination related traits and behaviors. In order to fill in this gap, the aim of this study was the translation, cultural adaptation and validation of Self-Determination Scale (SDS) for the Hungarian population. A total of 4335 adults participated in the study. The mean age of the participants was 27.97 (SD = 9.60). The sample consisted mostly of females, less than 20% were males. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis was performed for factorial structure checking and validation Cronbach’s alpha was used to examine the reliability of the factors. Our results revealed that the Hungarian version of SDS has good psychometric properties and it is a reliable tool for psychologists who would like to study or assess self-determination traits in their clients. The adapted and validated Hungarian version of SDS is presented in this paper.

Keywords: self-determination, traits, self-determination scale, awareness of self, perceived choice, adults, Hungarian, psychometric properties

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Authors: A. M. Tahsini

Abstract:

The Spalart and Allmaras turbulence model has been implemented in a numerical code to study the compressible turbulent flows, which the system of governing equations is solved with a finite volume approach using a structured grid. The AUSM+ scheme is used to calculate the inviscid fluxes. Different benchmark problems have been computed to validate the implementation and numerical results are shown. A special Attention is paid to wall jet applications. In this study, the jet is submitted to various wall boundary conditions (adiabatic or uniform heat flux) in forced convection regime and both two-dimensional and axisymmetric wall jets are considered. The comparison between the numerical results and experimental data has given the validity of this turbulence model to study the turbulent wall jets especially in engineering applications.

Keywords: Wall Jet, Heat transfer, Numerical Simulation, Spalart-Allmaras Turbulence model.

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Authors: M. I. Ribah, M. Jibir, Y. A. Bashar, S. S. Manga

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Food safety is a significant and growing public health problem in the world and Nigeria as a developing country, since food-borne diseases are important contributors to the huge burden of sickness and death of humans. In Nigeria, traditional ready-to-eat meat products (RTE-MPs) like balangu, tsire, guru and dried meat products like kilishi, dambun nama, banda, were reported to be highly appreciated because of their eating qualities. The consumption of these products was considered as safe due to the treatments that are usually involved during their production process. However, during processing and handling, the products could be contaminated by pathogens that could cause food poisoning. Therefore, a hazard identification for pathogenic bacteria on some traditional RTE-MPs was conducted in Kebbi and Sokoto States, Nigeria. A total of 116 RTE-MPs (balangu-38, kilishi-39 and tsire-39) samples were obtained from retail outlets and analyzed using standard cultural microbiological procedures in general and selective enrichment media to isolate the target pathogens. A six-fold serial dilution was prepared and using the pour plating method, colonies were counted. Serial dilutions were selected based on the prepared pre-labeled Petri dishes for each sample. A volume of 10-12 ml of molten Nutrient agar cooled to 42-45°C was poured into each Petri dish and 1 ml each from dilutions of 102, 104 and 106 for every sample was respectively poured on a pre-labeled Petri plate after which colonies were counted. The isolated pathogens were identified and confirmed after series of biochemical tests. Frequencies and percentages were used to describe the presence of pathogens. The General Linear Model was used to analyze data on pathogen presence according to RTE-MPs and means were separated using the Tukey test at 0.05 confidence level. Of the 116 RTE-MPs samples collected, 35 (30.17%) samples were found to be contaminated with some tested pathogens. Prevalence results showed that Escherichia coli, salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus were present in the samples. Mean total bacterial count was 23.82×106 cfu/g. The frequency of individual pathogens isolated was; Staphylococcus aureus 18 (15.51%), Escherichia coli 12 (10.34%) and Salmonella 5 (4.31%). Also, among the RTE-MPs tested, the total bacterial counts were found to differ significantly (P < 0.05), with 1.81, 2.41 and 2.9×104 cfu/g for tsire, kilishi, and balangu, respectively. The study concluded that the presence of pathogenic bacteria in balangu could pose grave health risks to consumers, and hence, recommended good manufacturing practices in the production of balangu to improve the products’ safety.

Keywords: Ready-to-eat meat products, retail outlets, safety assessment, public health.

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Authors: Irina Severin, M. Caramihai, K. Chung, G. Tasca, T. Park

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The current study has investigated the ageing phenomena of silica optical fibres in relation to water activity which might be accelerated when exposed to a supplementary energy, such as microwaves. A controlled stress by winding fibres onto accurate diameter mandrel was applied. Taking into account that normally a decrease in fibre strength is induced in time by chemical action of water, the effects of cumulative reagents such as: water, applied stress and supplementary energy (microwave) in some cases acted in the opposite manner. The microwave effect as a structural relaxation catalyst appears unexpected, even if the overall gain in fibre strength is not high, but the stress corrosion factor revealed significant increase in certain simulation conditions.

Keywords: optical fibres, mechanical testing, aging, microwave, structural relaxation.

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Authors: Yunbin Yang, Liangli He, Fengjun Wang

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The essentiality of maintenance assessment and maintenance optimization in design stage is analyzed, and the existent problems of conventional maintenance design method are illuminated. MDMVM (Maintenance Design Method based Virtual Maintenance) is illuminated, and the process of MDMVM established, and the MDMVM architecture is given out. The key techniques of MDMVM are analyzed, and include maintenance design based KBE (Knowledge Based Engineering) and virtual maintenance based physically attribute. According to physical property, physically based modeling, visual object movement control, the simulation of operation force and maintenance sequence planning method are emphatically illuminated. Maintenance design system based virtual maintenance is established in foundation of maintenance design method.

Keywords: Digital mock-up, virtual maintenance, knowledge engineering, maintenance sequence planning.

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Authors: Lina Fernandes, G. N. Nayak, D. Ilangovan

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Two short sediment cores collected from mangrove areas of Manori and Thane creeks along Mumbai coast were analysed for sediment composition and metals (Fe, Mn, Cu, Pb, Co, Ni, Zn, Cr and V). The statistical analysis of Pearson correlation matrix proved that there is a significant relationship between metal concentration and finer grain size in Manori creek while poor correlation was observed in Thane creek. Based on the enrichment factor, the present metal to background metal ratios clearly reflected maximum enrichment of Cu and Pb in Manori creek and Mn in Thane creek. Geoaccumulation index calculated indicate that the study area is unpolluted with respect to Fe, Mn, Co, Ni, Zn and Cr in both the cores while moderately polluted with Cu and Pb in Manori creek. Based on contamination degree, both the core sediments were found to be considerably contaminated with metals.

Keywords: Creek, Igeo, Mumbai, trace metals

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Authors: B.Tavakoly Sany, A.H .Sulaiman, GH. Monazami, A. Salleh

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Eight heavy metals (Cu, Cr, Zn, Hg, Pb, Cd, Ni and As) were analyzed in sediment samples in the dry and wet seasons from November 2009 to October 2010 in West Port of Peninsular Malaysia. The heavy metal concentrations (mg/kg dry weight) were ranged from 23.4 to 98.3 for Zn, 22.3 to 80 for Pb, 7.4 to 27.6 Cu, 0.244 to 3.53 for Cd, 7.2 to 22.2 for Ni, 20.2 to 162 for As, 0.11 to 0.409 for Hg and 11.5 to 61.5 for Cr. Metals concentrations in dry season were higher than the rainy season except in cupper and chromium. Analysis of variance with Statistical Analysis System (SAS) shows that the mean concentration of metals in the two seasons (α level=0.05) are not significantly different which shows that the metals were held firmly in the matrix of sediment. Also there are significant differences between control point station with other stations. According to the Interim Sediment Quality guidelines (ISQG), the metal concentrations are moderately polluted, except in arsenic which shows the highest level of pollution.

Keywords: Heavy metals, sediment quality guidelines, west port.

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Authors: E. Cenderelli, E. Bruno, G. Iacoviello, A. Lazzini

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The financial sector is exposed to the risk of cyber-attacks like any other industrial sector. Furthermore, the topic of CybeRisk (cyber risk) has become particularly relevant given that Information Technology (IT) attacks have increased drastically in recent years, and cannot be stopped by single organizations requiring a response at international and national level. IT risk is never a matter purely for the IT manager, although he clearly plays a key role. A bank's risk management function requires a thorough understanding of the evolving risks as well as the tools and practical techniques available to address them. Upon the request of European and national legislation regarding CybeRisk in the financial system, banks are therefore called upon to strengthen the operational model for CybeRisk management. This will require an important change with a more intense collaboration with the structures that deal with information security for the development of an ad hoc system for the evaluation and control of this type of risk. The aim of the work is to propose a framework for the management and control of CybeRisk that will bridge the gap in the literature regarding the understanding and consideration of CybeRisk as an integral part of business management. The IT function has a strong relevance in the management of CybeRisk, which is perceived mainly as operational risk, but with a positive tendency on the part of risk management to the identification of CybeRisk assessment methods that are increasingly complete, quantitative and able to better describe the possible impacts on the business. The paper provides answers to the research questions: Is it possible to define a CybeRisk governance structure able to support the comparison between risk and security? How can the relationships between IT assets be integrated into a cyberisk assessment framework to guarantee a system of protection and risks control? From a methodological point of view, this research uses a case study approach. The choice of “Monte dei Paschi di Siena” was determined by the specific features of one of Italy’s biggest lenders. It is chosen to use an intensive research strategy: an in-depth study of reality. The case study methodology is an empirical approach to explore a complex and current phenomenon that develops over time. The use of cases has also the advantage of allowing the deepening of aspects concerning the "how" and "why" of contemporary events, on which the scholar has little control. The research bases on quantitative data and qualitative information obtained through semi-structured interviews of an open-ended nature and questionnaires to directors, members of the audit committee, risk, IT and compliance managers, and those responsible for internal audit function and anti-money laundering. The added value of the paper can be seen in the development of a framework based on a mapping of IT assets from which it is possible to identify their relationships for purposes of a more effective management and control of cyber risk.

Keywords: Bank, CybeRisk, information technology, risk management.

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Authors: Cherdvong Saengsupavanich

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The impact of a proposed pier on tidal current alteration was evaluated. The proposed pier location was in Salad Bay on Koa Kood Island, Trat province, Thailand, and was designed to accommodate passenger ships with a draft of less than 2 m. The study began with collecting necessary data, including bathymetric, water elevation and tidal current characteristics. The impact was assessed using a software package (MIKE21). Although the results showed that the pier would affect the existing current pattern, the change was determined to be insignificant, as the design of the piles for the pier provided sufficient spacing to let the current flow as freely as possible. Consequences of the altered current, such as seabed erosion, water stagnation, sediment deposition and navigational risk were assessed. Environmental mitigation measures might be necessary if the impacts were considered unacceptable.

Keywords: Environmental impact assessment, pier, tidal currentchange, coastal engineering and management

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Authors: M. Zeegers, D. Barron

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In this paper we canvass three case studies of unique research partnerships between universities and schools in the wider community. In doing so, we consider those areas of indeterminate zones of professional practice explored by academics in their research activities within the wider community. We discuss three cases: an artist-in-residence program designed to engage primary school children with new understandings about local Indigenous Australian issues in their pedagogical and physical landscapes; an assessment of pedagogical concerns in relation to the use of physical space in classrooms; and the pedagogical underpinnings of a costumed museum school program. In doing so, we engage issues of research as playing an integral part in the development, implementation and maintenance of academic engagements with wider community issues.

Keywords: communities of interest, universities, schools, partnerships

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Authors: Kahil Amar, Boukais Said, Kezmane Ali, Hamizi Mohand, Hannachi Naceur Eddine

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The principle of the seismic performance evaluation methods is to provide a measure of capability for a building or set of buildings to be damaged by an earthquake. The common objective of many of these methods is to supply classification criteria. The purpose of this study is to present a method for assessing the seismic performance of structures, based on Pushover method; we are particularly interested in reinforced concrete frame structures, which represent a significant percentage of damaged structures after a seismic event. The work is based on the characterization of seismic movement of the various earthquake zones in terms of PGA and PGD that is obtained by means of SIMQK_GR and PRISM software and the correlation between the points of performance and the scalar characterizing the earthquakes will developed.

Keywords: Seismic performance, Pushover method, characterization of seismic motion, harmfulness of the seismic signal

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Authors: Aliakbar Sayadi, Thomas R. Neitzert, G. Charles Clifton, Min Cheol Han

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The present study aims to assess the performance of vermiculite concrete containing poly-lactic acid beads as an eco-friendly aggregate. Vermiculite aggregate was replaced by poly-lactic acid in percentages of 0%, 20%, 40%, 60% and 80%. Mechanical and thermal properties of concrete were investigated. Test results indicated that the inclusion of poly-lactic acid decreased the PH value of concrete and all the poly-lactic acid particles were dissolved due to the formation of sodium lactide and lactide oligomers when subjected to the high alkaline environment of concrete. In addition, an increase in thermal conductivity value of concrete was observed as the ratio of poly-lactic acid increased. Moreover, a set of equations was proposed to estimate the water-cement ratio, cement content and water absorption ratio of concrete.

Keywords: Poly-lactic acid, PLA, vermiculite, concrete, eco-friendly, mechanical properties.

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Authors: André M. Ornelas, Lise P. Labéjof, Ligia V. Lage dos Santos, Jackson A. Santos

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The excessive use of agricultural pesticides and the resulting contamination of food and beds of rivers have been a recurring problem nowadays. Some of these substances can cause changes in endocrine balance and impair reproductive function of human and animal population. In the present study, we evaluated the possible effects of the fungicide cuprous copper oxide Sandoz® on pregnant Wistar rats. They received a daily oral administration of 103 or 3.103 mg/kg of the fungicide from the 6th to the 15th day of gestation. On day 21 of gestation, the maternal and fetal toxicity parameters and indices were determined. The administration of cuprous oxide (Copper Sandoz) in Wistar rats, the period of organogenesis, revealed no evidence of maternal toxicity or embryo at the studied doses.

Keywords: Reproductive toxicity, endocrine disrupter, cupper Sandoz®, rodent

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Authors: N. Boutra, N. Ravot, J. Benoit, O. Picon

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Submarine power cables used for offshore wind farms electric energy distribution and transmission are subject to numerous threats. Some of the risks are associated with transport, installation and operating in harsh marine environment. This paper describes the feasibility of an electromagnetic low frequency sensing technique for submarine power cable failure prediction. The impact of a structural damage shape and material variability on the induced electric field is evaluated. The analysis is performed by modeling the cable using the finite element method, we use sensitivity analysis in order to identify the main damage characteristics affecting electric field variation. Lastly, we discuss the results obtained.

Keywords: Electromagnetism, defect, finite element method, sensitivity analysis, submarine power cables.

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Authors: Smita S. D. Goorah, Dilish Jokhoo

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A personal estimate of a health risk may not correspond to a scientific assessment of the health risk. Hence, there is a need to investigate perceived health risks in the public. In this study, a young, educated and healthy group of people from a tertiary institute were questioned about their health concerns. Ethics clearance was obtained and data was collected by means of a questionnaire. 362 students participated in the study. Tobacco use, heavy alcohol drinking, illicit drugs, unsafe sex and potential carcinogens were perceived to be the five greatest threats to health in this cohort. On the other hand natural health products, unemployment, unmet contraceptive needs, family violence and homelessness were felt to be the least perceived health risks. Nutrition-related health risks as well as health risks due to physical inactivity and obesity were not perceived as major health threats. Such a study of health perceptions may guide health promotion campaigns.

Keywords: Health promotion, perceptions of health risks, university students.

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Authors: M. Bouri, L. Chraïbi, N. Sefiani

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Currently, industries endeavor to align their environmental management system with the ISO 14001:2015 international standard, while preserving competitiveness and sustainability. Then, a key driver for these industries is to develop a skilled workforce that is able to implement, continuously improve and audit the environmental management system. The purpose of this paper is to provide an environmental competency framework that aims to identify, rank and categorize the competencies required by both the environmental managers and auditors. This competency framework is expected to be useful during competency assessment, recruitment, and training processes. To achieve this end, a modified 2-tuple Delphi approach is here proposed based on a combination of the modified Delphi approach and the 2-tuple linguistic representation model. The adopted approach is presented as numerous questionnaires that are spread over multiple rounds in order to obtain a consensus among the different Moroccan experts participating to this study.

Keywords: Competency framework, Delphi, environmental competency, 2-tuple.

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Authors: Bahloul Amel

Abstract:

This study is an attempt to raise the awareness of the stakeholders and the authorities on the sensitivity of Algerian secondary school teachers of English as a Foreign Language about the students’ loss of English language skills learned during formal schooling with effort and at expense and the supposed measures to arrest that loss. Data was collected from secondary school teachers of EFL and analyzed quantitatively using a questionnaire containing open-ended and close-ended questions. The results advocate a consensus about the need for actions to be adopted to make assessment techniques outcome-oriented. Most of the participants were in favor of including curricular activities involving contextualized learning, problem-solving learning critical selfawareness, self and peer-assisted learning, use of computers and internet so as to make learners autonomous.

Keywords: Contextualized learning, EFL, Lifelong learning.

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Authors: Yusuf Yasa, Erkan Mese

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This paper investigates the thermal issue of permanent magnet synchronous generator which is frequently used in direct drive gearless small-scale wind turbine applications. Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator (PMSG) is designed with 2.5 kW continuous and 6 kW peak power. Then considering generator geometry, mechanical design of wind turbine is performed. Thermal analysis and optimization is carried out considering all wind turbine components to reach realistic results. This issue is extremely important in research and development (R&D) process for wind turbine applications.

Keywords: Direct drive, gearless wind turbine, permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG), small-scale wind turbine, thermal management.

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Authors: Wen-Pai Wang, Mei-Ching Tang

Abstract:

The service sector continues to grow and the percentage of GDP accounted for by service industries keeps increasing. The growth and importance of service to an economy is not just a phenomenon of advanced economies, service is now a majority of the world gross domestic products. However, the performance evaluation process of new service development problems generally involves uncertain and imprecise data. This paper presents a 2-tuple fuzzy linguistic computing approach to dealing with heterogeneous information and information loss problems while the processes of subjective evaluation integration. The proposed method based on group decision-making scenario to assist business managers in measuring performance of new service development manipulates the heterogeneity integration processes and avoids the information loss effectively.

Keywords: Heterogeneity, Multigranular linguistic computing, New service development, Performance evaluation.

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Authors: Sun K. Yoo, Ki-Chang Nam, Hyun-Young Shin, Ho-Seong Moon, Hee Cheol Kang

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Automated intelligent, clinical decision support systems generally promote to help or to assist physicians and patients regarding to prevention of diseases or treatment of illnesses using computer represented knowledge and information. In this paper, assessment factors affecting the proper design of clinical decision support system were investigated. The required procedure steps for gathering the data from clinical trial and extracting the information from large volume of healthcare repositories were listed, which are necessary for validation and verification of evidence-based implementation of clinical decision support system. The goal of this paper is to extract useful evaluation factors affecting the quality of the clinical decision support system in the design, development, and implementation of a computer-based decision support system.

Keywords: Evaluation, Clinical Decision Support System.

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Authors: Seongmin Yim

Abstract:

The Korean government has applied preliminary feasibility study for a new R&D program over about $50 Million since 2008 as a part of official process in budget planning. The investigations of technology, policy, and economics are carried out separately to arrive at a definite result: whether a program is feasible or unfeasible. This paper describes the concept and check-points related to technological analysis from a preliminary evaluation’s stand-point. First of all, the fundamental concept of technological analysis in evaluation systems such as Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Evaluation Methods by Department of Energy (DOE) in the United States, the Green Book in the United Kingdom are reviewed. After the review, customized questionnaire for technological analysis are developed. Conclusively, limitations and further research directions are provided.

Keywords: Preliminary Feasibility Study, R&D Program, Evaluation System, Technological analysis, R&D Logic Analysis.

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Authors: Juraj Camaj, Martin Kendra, Jaroslav Masek

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The paper is focused to the evaluation railway tracks in the Slovakia by using Multi-Criteria method. Evaluation of railway tracks has important impacts for the assessment of investment in technical equipment. Evaluation of railway tracks also has an important impact for the allocation of marshalling yards. Marshalling yards are in transport model as centers for the operation assigned catchment area. This model is one of the effective ways to meet the development strategy of the European Community's railways. By applying this model in practice, a transport company can guarantee a higher quality of service and then expect an increase in performance. The model is also applicable to other rail networks. This model supplements a theoretical problem of train formation problem of new ways of looking at evaluation of factors affecting the organization of wagon flows.

Keywords: Railway track, multi-criteria methods, evaluation, transportation model.

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Authors: Albert K. Chong, Jasim Ahmed Ali Al-Baghdadi, Peter B. Milburn

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Precise capture of plantar 3D surface of the foot at the loading gait phases on rigid substrates was found to be valuable for the assessment of the physiology, health and problems of the feet. Photogrammetry, a precision 3D spatial data capture technique is suitable for this type of dynamic application. In this research, the technique is utilised to study the plantar deformation as a result of having a strip of kinesiology tape on the plantar surface during the loading phase of gait. For this pilot study, one healthy adult male subject was recruited under the University’s human research ethics guidelines for this preliminary study. The 3D plantar deformation data with and without applying the tape were analysed. The results and analyses are presented together with detailed findings.

Keywords: Gait, human plantar, loading, Kinesiology Tape.

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Authors: S. W. Hong, Y. S. Choi, T. H. Chung, J. H. Song, H. S. Kim

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Bio-electrical responses obtained from freshwater sediments by employing microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology were investigated in this experimental study. During the electricity generation, organic matter in the sediment was microbially oxidized under anaerobic conditions with an electrode serving as a terminal electron acceptor. It was found that the sediment organic matter (SOM) associated with electrochemically-active electrodes became more humified, aromatic, and polydispersed, and had a higher average molecular weight, together with the decrease in the quantity of SOM. The alteration of characteristics of the SOM was analogous to that commonly observed in the early stage of SOM diagenetic process (i.e., humification). These findings including an elevation of the sediment redox potential present a possibility of the MFC technology as a new soil/sediment remediation technique based on its potential benefits: non-destructive electricity generation and bioremediation.

Keywords: Anaerobic oxidation, microbial fuel cell, remediation, sediment.

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