Search results for: Expectation- Perception Gap

Authors: Zulaikha Reesha Rashaad

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One of the major factors which can contribute greatly to success of catering businesses is to employ food and beverage staff having sound hygiene knowledge. Individuals having sound knowledge of hygiene has a higher chance of following safe food practices in food production. One of the leading causes of food poisoning and food borne illnesses has been identified as lack of hygiene knowledge among food and beverage staff working in catering establishments and restaurants. This research aims to analyze the hygiene knowledge among food and beverage staff working in top five restaurants of Male’, in relation to their age, educational background, occupation and training. The research uses quantitative and descriptive methods in data collection and in data analysis. Data was obtained through random sampling technique with self-administered survey questionnaires which was completed by 60 respondents working in 5 different restaurants operating at top level in Male’. The respondents of the research were service staff and chefs working in these restaurants. The responses to the questionnaires have been analyzed by using SPSS. The results of the research indicated that age, education level, occupation and training correlated with hygiene knowledge perception scores.

Keywords: Food and beverage staff, food poisoning, food production, hygiene knowledge.

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Authors: Khatesiree Sripoothon, Usanee Sengpanich, Rattana Sittioum

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The objective of this study is to examine the factors influencing consumer purchasing decisions about healthy food. This model consists of two latent variables: Consumer Perception relating to NCDs and Consumer Perceived Product Value. The study was conducted in the northern provinces of Thailand, which are popular with tourists and have received support from the government for health and wellness tourism. A survey was used as the data collection method, and the questionnaire was applied to 385 consumers. An accidental sampling method was used to identify the sample. The statistics of frequency, percentage, mean, and structural equation model were used to analyze the data obtained. Additionally, all factors had a significant positive influence on healthy food purchasing decisions (p<0.001) and were predictive of healthy food purchasing decisions at 46.20% (R2=0.462). Also, these findings seem to underline the supposition that consumer perceptions of NCDs and perceived product value are key variables that strengthen the competitive effects of healthy-friendly business entrepreneurs. Moreover, it reduces the countries' public health costs for treating patients with the disease of NCDs in Thailand.

Keywords: healthy food, perceived product value, perception of noncommunicable diseases, purchasing decisions

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Authors: Farahnaz Amini, Woo Yun Kin, Lazwani Kolandaiveloo

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Availability of different genetic tests after completion of Human Genome Project increases the physicians’ responsibility to keep themselves update on the potential implementation of these genetic tests in their daily practice. However, due to numbers of barriers, still many of physicians are not either aware of these tests or are not willing to offer or refer their patients for genetic tests. This study was conducted an anonymous, cross-sectional, mailed-based survey to develop a primary data of Malaysian physicians’ level of knowledge and perception of gene profiling. Questionnaire had 29 questions. Total scores on selected questions were used to assess the level of knowledge. The highest possible score was 11. Descriptive statistics, one way ANOVA and chi-squared test was used for statistical analysis. Sixty three completed questionnaires were returned by 27 general practitioners (GPs) and 36 medical specialists. Responders’ age ranges from 24 to 55 years old (mean 30.2 ± 6.4). About 40% of the participants rated themselves as having poor level of knowledge in genetics in general whilst 60% believed that they have fair level of knowledge; however, almost half (46%) of the respondents felt that they were not knowledgeable about available genetic tests. A majority (94%) of the responders were not aware of any lab or company which is offering gene profiling services in Malaysia. Only 4% of participants were aware of using gene profiling for detection of dosage of some drugs. Respondents perceived greater utility of gene profiling for breast cancer (38%) compared to the colorectal familial cancer (3%). The score of knowledge ranged from 2 to 8 (mean 4.38 ± 1.67). Non- significant differences between score of knowledge of GPs and specialists were observed, with score of 4.19 and 4.58 respectively. There was no significant association between any demographic factors and level of knowledge. However, those who graduated between years 2001 to 2005 had higher level of knowledge. Overall, 83% of participants showed relatively high level of perception on value of gene profiling to detect patient’s risk of disease. However, low perception was observed for both statements of using gene profiling for general population in order to alter their lifestyle (25%) as well as having the full sequence of a patient genome for the purpose of determining a patient’s best match for treatment (18%). The lack of clinical guidelines, limited provider knowledge and awareness, lack of time and resources to educate patients, lack of evidence-based clinical information and cost of tests were the most barriers of ordering gene profiling mentioned by physicians. In conclusion Malaysian physicians who participate in this study had mediocre level of knowledge and awareness in gene profiling. The low exposure to the genetic questions and problems might be a key predictor of lack of awareness and knowledge on available genetic tests. Educational and training workshop might be useful in helping Malaysian physicians incorporate genetic profiling into practice for eligible patients.

Keywords: Gene Profiling, Knowledge, Malaysia, Physician.

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Authors: A. Grilec, S. Petrak, M. Mahnic Naglic

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Technological development and the globalization in production and sales of clothing in the last decade have significantly influenced the changes in consumer relationship with the industrial-fashioned apparel and in the way of clothing purchasing. The Internet sale of clothing is in a constant and significant increase in the global market, but the possibilities offered by modern computing technologies in the customization segment are not yet fully involved, especially according to the individual customer requirements and body sizes. Considering the growing trend of online shopping, the main goal of this paper is to investigate the differences in customer perceptions towards online apparel shopping and particularly to discover the main differences in perceptions between customers regarding three different body sizes. In order to complete the research goal, the quantitative study on the sample of 85 Croatian consumers was conducted in 2017 in Zagreb, Croatia. Respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement according to a five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). To analyze attitudes of respondents, simple and descriptive statistics were used. The main findings highlight the differences in respondent perception of 3D body scanning, using 3D body scanning in Internet shopping, online apparel shopping habits regarding their body sizes.

Keywords: Consumer behavior, online shopping, 3D body scanning.

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Authors: E. S. Gower, M. O. J. Hawksford

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An algorithm for learning an overcomplete dictionary using a Cauchy mixture model for sparse decomposition of an underdetermined mixing system is introduced. The mixture density function is derived from a ratio sample of the observed mixture signals where 1) there are at least two but not necessarily more mixture signals observed, 2) the source signals are statistically independent and 3) the sources are sparse. The basis vectors of the dictionary are learned via the optimization of the location parameters of the Cauchy mixture components, which is shown to be more accurate and robust than the conventional data mining methods usually employed for this task. Using a well known sparse decomposition algorithm, we extract three speech signals from two mixtures based on the estimated dictionary. Further tests with additive Gaussian noise are used to demonstrate the proposed algorithm-s robustness to outliers.

Keywords: expectation-maximization, Pitman estimator, sparsedecomposition

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Authors: Pranee Tridhoskul

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This research paper is aimed to examine a relationship between the service marketing mix and customers’ frequency of use of service at Mercedes Benz Auto Repair Centres under Thonburi Group, Thailand. Based on 2,267 customers who used the service of Thonburi Group’s Auto Repair Centres as the population, the sampling of this research was a total of 340 samples, by use of Probability Sampling Technique. Systematic Random Sampling was applied by use of questionnaire in collecting the data at Thonburi Group’s Auto Repair Centres. Mean and Pearson’s basic statistical correlations were utilized in analyzing the data. The study discovered a medium level of customers’ perception towards product and service of Thonburi Group’s Auto Repair Centres, price, place or distribution channel and promotion. People who provided service were perceived also at a medium level, whereas the physical evidence and service process were perceived at a high level. Furthermore, there appeared a correlation between the physical evidence and service process, and customers’ frequency of use of automobile service per year.

Keywords: Service Marketing Mix, Behavior, Mercedes Auto Service Centre.

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Authors: L. Edirisinghe, Z. Jin, A. W. Wijeratne, R. Mudunkotuwa

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Empty container repositioning is a fundamental problem faced by the shipping industry. The virtual container yard is a novel strategy underpinning the container interchange between carriers that could substantially reduce this ever-increasing shipping cost. This paper evaluates the shipping industry perception of the virtual container yard using chi-square tests. It examines if the carriers perceive that the selected independent variables, namely culture, organization, decision, marketing, attitudes, legal, independent, complexity, and stakeholders of carriers, impact the efficiency and benefits of the virtual container yard. There are two major findings of the research. Firstly, carriers view that complexity, attitudes, and stakeholders may impact the effectiveness of container interchange and may influence the perceived benefits of the virtual container yard. Secondly, the three factors of legal, organization, and decision influence only the perceived benefits of the virtual container yard. Accordingly, the implementation of the virtual container yard will be influenced by six key factors, namely complexity, attitudes, stakeholders, legal, organization and decision. Since the virtual container yard could reduce overall shipping costs, it is vital to examine the carriers’ perception of this concept.

Keywords: Virtual container yard, imbalance, management, inventory.

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Authors: Jandot Aurélia

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In France, in the main media, the concern about nuclear safety and security has not really appeared before the beginning of the 1970s. The gradual changes in its perception are studied here through the arguments given in the main French news magazines, linked with several parameters. As this represents a considerable amount of copies and thus of information, are selected here the main articles as well as the main “mental images” aiming to persuade the readers and which have led the public awareness to evolve. Indeed, in the 1970s, in France, these evolutions were not made in one day. Indeed, over the period, many articles were still in favor of nuclear power plants and promoted the technological advances that were made in this field. They had to be taken into account. But, gradually, grew up arguments and mental images discrediting the perception of nuclear technology. Among these were the environmental impacts of this industry, as the question of pollution progressively appeared. So, between 1970 and 1979, the language has changed, as the perceptible objectives of the communication, allowing to discern the deepest intentions of the editorial staffs of the French news magazines. This is all these changes that are emphasized here, over a period when the safety and security concern linked to the nuclear technology, to there a field for specialists, has become progressively a social issue seemingly open to all.

Keywords: French media discourse, nuclear safety and security, public awareness, persuasion.

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Authors: Abbas Moshref Razavi, Rodina Ahmad

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Organizations are supposed to be systems and consequently require defining the notion of equilibrium within. However, organizations comprise people and unavoidably entail their irrational aspects. Then, the question is what is the organizational equilibrium and equilibrating mechanisms considering these aspects. Hence, some arguments are provided here to conceptualize human unconsciousness, irrationalities and consequent uncertainties within organizations in the form of a system of psychic dynamism. The assumption is this dynamism maintains the psychic balance of the organization through a psychodynamic point of view. The resultant conceptualization expected to promote the understanding of such aspects in different organizational settings by hypothesizing organizational equilibration from this perspective. As a result, the main expectation is, if it is known that how the organization equilibrates in this sense, we can explain and deal with such irrationalities and unconsciousness by rational and, of course conscious, planning and accomplishing.

Keywords: Equilibration, General System Theory, Organization, Psychodynamic.

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Authors: Chutchada Nusai, Yoshimi Suzuki, Haruaki Yamazaki

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Selecting the word translation from a set of target language words, one that conveys the correct sense of source word and makes more fluent target language output, is one of core problems in machine translation. In this paper we compare the 3 methods of estimating word translation probabilities for selecting the translation word in Thai – English Machine Translation. The 3 methods are (1) Method based on frequency of word translation, (2) Method based on collocation of word translation, and (3) Method based on Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm. For evaluation we used Thai – English parallel sentences generated by NECTEC. The method based on EM algorithm is the best method in comparison to the other methods and gives the satisfying results.

Keywords: Machine translation, EM algorithm.

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Authors: Silvio R. R. Sanches, Bianca C. Barbosa, Beatriz R. Brum, Cléber G.Corrêa

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In order to evaluate the quality of a segmentation algorithm, the researchers use subjective or objective metrics. Although subjective metrics are more accurate than objective ones, objective metrics do not require user feedback to test an algorithm. Objective metrics require subjective experiments only during their development. Subjective experiments typically display to users some videos (generated from frames with segmentation errors) that simulate the environment of an application domain. This user feedback is crucial information for metric definition. In the subjective experiments applied to develop some state-of-the-art metrics used to test segmentation algorithms, the videos displayed during the experiments did not contain audio. Audio is an essential component in applications such as videoconference and augmented reality. If the audio influences the user’s perception, using only videos without audio in subjective experiments can compromise the efficiency of an objective metric generated using data from these experiments. This work aims to identify if the audio influences the user’s perception of segmentation quality in background substitution applications with audio. The proposed approach used a subjective method based on formal video quality assessment methods. The results showed that audio influences the quality of segmentation perceived by a user.

Keywords: Background substitution, influence of audio, segmentation evaluation, segmentation quality.

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Authors: Geeta Sikka, Arvinder Kaur Takkar, Moin Uddin

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Missing data is a persistent problem in almost all areas of empirical research. The missing data must be treated very carefully, as data plays a fundamental role in every analysis. Improper treatment can distort the analysis or generate biased results. In this paper, we compare and contrast various imputation techniques on missing data sets and make an empirical evaluation of these methods so as to construct quality software models. Our empirical study is based on NASA-s two public dataset. KC4 and KC1. The actual data sets of 125 cases and 2107 cases respectively, without any missing values were considered. The data set is used to create Missing at Random (MAR) data Listwise Deletion(LD), Mean Substitution(MS), Interpolation, Regression with an error term and Expectation-Maximization (EM) approaches were used to compare the effects of the various techniques.

Keywords: Missing data, Imputation, Missing Data Techniques.

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Authors: Tao Quang Bang, Insu Jeon

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Most CT reconstruction system x-ray computed tomography (CT) is a well established visualization technique in medicine and nondestructive testing. However, since CT scanning requires sampling of radiographic projections from different viewing angles, common CT systems with mechanically moving parts are too slow for dynamic imaging, for instance of multiphase flows or live animals. A large number of X-ray projections are needed to reconstruct CT images, so the collection and calculation of the projection data consume too much time and harmful for patient. For the purpose of solving the problem, in this study, we proposed a method for tomographic reconstruction of a sample from a limited number of x-ray projections by using linear interpolation method. In simulation, we presented reconstruction from an experimental x-ray CT scan of a Aluminum phantom that follows to two steps: X-ray projections will be interpolated using linear interpolation method and using it for CT reconstruction based upon Ordered Subsets Expectation Maximization (OSEM) method.

Keywords: CT reconstruction, X-ray projections, Interpolation technique, OSEM

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Authors: In Su Na, Gunwon Lee, Seiyong Kim

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This study analyzed the effect of area variables and economic variables on the length of each period of the project in order to analyze the effect of agreement rate on project implementation in housing renewal projects. In conclusion, as can be seen from these results, a low agreement rate may not translate into project promotion, and a higher agreement rate may not translate into project delay. The expectation of the policy is that the lower the agreement rate, the more projects would be promoted, but that is not the actual effect. From a policy consistency viewpoint, changing the agreement rate frequently, depending on the decision of the public, is not reasonable. The policy of using agreement rate as a necessary condition for project implementation should be reconsidered.

Keywords: Area and Economic Variables, Elapsed time, Housing Renewal Project.

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Authors: Li Wu

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Plant ecological stoichiometry, which is one of the most important tools to connect the components among different levels of ecosystem, has obtained increasingly extensive concern, especially on its responses to the environmental gradients. Based on the published literatures and datasets, this article focused on reviewing the variable responses of plant foliar ecological stoichiometry to the climatic factors, such as temperature, water, elevated CO₂, and found that foliar ecological stoichiometry responded dynamically to climatic variations among different regions and different growth forms. Then, research status and deficiency were summarized and the expectation on studying the relationships between plant C, N and P ecological stoichiometry and environmental variations which can provide a reference to understand how plants will respond to global change in the future was pointed out.

Keywords: Climatic variations, terrestrial plant, foliar ecological stoichiometry, temperature, precipitation, drought, elevated CO2.

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Authors: L. P. K. Liyanage, N. R. P. Withana, A. L. Sandika

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The purpose of this study was to determine tourist and community perception-based sustainable tourism indicators as well as Human Pressure Index (HPI) and Tourist Activity Index (TAI). Study was carried out in Sinharaja forest which is considered as one of the major eco-tourism destination in Sri Lanka. Data were gathered using a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire as well as records from Forest department. Convenient sampling technique was applied. For the majority of issues, the responses were obtained on multi-point Likert-type scales. Visual portrayal was used for display analyzed data. The study revealed that the host community of the Kudawa gets many benefits from tourism. Also, tourism has caused negative impacts upon the environment and community. The study further revealed the need of proper waste management and involvement of local cultural events for the tourism business in the Kudawa conservation center. The TAI, which accounted to be 1.27 and monthly evolution of HPI revealed that congestion can be occurred in the Sinharaja rainforest during peak season. The results provide useful information to any party involved with tourism planning anywhere, since such attempts would be more effective once the people’s perceptions on these aspects are taken into account.

Keywords: Kudawa conservation center, Sinharaja world heritage rainforest, sustainability indicators.

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Authors: M. Kalamani, S. Valarmathy, M. Krishnamoorthi

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In this paper, Fuzzy C-Means clustering with Expectation Maximization-Gaussian Mixture Model based hybrid modeling algorithm is proposed for Continuous Tamil Speech Recognition. The speech sentences from various speakers are used for training and testing phase and objective measures are between the proposed and existing Continuous Speech Recognition algorithms. From the simulated results, it is observed that the proposed algorithm improves the recognition accuracy and F-measure up to 3% as compared to that of the existing algorithms for the speech signal from various speakers. In addition, it reduces the Word Error Rate, Error Rate and Error up to 4% as compared to that of the existing algorithms. In all aspects, the proposed hybrid modeling for Tamil speech recognition provides the significant improvements for speechto- text conversion in various applications.

Keywords: Speech Segmentation, Feature Extraction, Clustering, HMM, EM-GMM, CSR.

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Authors: Liu Dan, Wang Xue, Wang Guiqin, Qian Zhihong

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The burst noise is a kind of noises that are destructive and frequently found in semiconductor devices and ICs, yet detecting and removing the noise has proved challenging for IC designers or users. According to the properties of burst noise, a methodological approach is presented (proposed) in the paper, by which the burst noise can be analysed and detected in time domain. In this paper, principles and properties of burst noise are expounded first, Afterwards, feasibility (viable) of burst noise detection by means of wavelet transform in the time domain is corroborated in the paper, and the multi-resolution characters of Gaussian noise, burst noise and blurred burst noise are discussed in details by computer emulation. Furthermore, the practical method to decide parameters of wavelet transform is acquired through a great deal of experiment and data statistics. The methodology may yield an expectation in a wide variety of applications.

Keywords: Burst noise, detection, wavelet transform

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Authors: Nazif Çalış, Murat Erişoğlu, Hamza Erol, Tayfun Servi

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In the recent works related with mixture discriminant analysis (MDA), expectation and maximization (EM) algorithm is used to estimate parameters of Gaussian mixtures. But, initial values of EM algorithm affect the final parameters- estimates. Also, when EM algorithm is applied two times, for the same data set, it can be give different results for the estimate of parameters and this affect the classification accuracy of MDA. Forthcoming this problem, we use Self Organizing Mixture Network (SOMN) algorithm to estimate parameters of Gaussians mixtures in MDA that SOMN is more robust when random the initial values of the parameters are used [5]. We show effectiveness of this method on popular simulated waveform datasets and real glass data set.

Keywords: Self Organizing Mixture Network, MixtureDiscriminant Analysis, Waveform Datasets, Glass Identification, Mixture of Multivariate Normal Distributions

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Authors: Andrea Bencsik

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Gurus of the Classical Management School (like Taylor, Fayol and Ford) had an opinion that work must be delegated to the individual and the individual has to be instructed, his work assessed and paid based on individual performance. The theories of the Human Relations School have changed this mentality regarding the concept of groups. They came to the conclusion that the influence of groups greatly affects the behaviour and performance of its members. Group theories today are characterized by problem-solving teams and self-managing groups authorized to make decisions and execute; professional communities also play an important role during the operation of knowledge management systems. In this theoretical research we try to find answers to a question: what kind of characteristics (professional competencies, personal features, etc.) a successful team needs to manage a change to operate a knowledge management system step by step.

Keywords: Knowledge management, team, team knowledge, team memory, team roles.

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Authors: Yi Yu, Lin Ma, Yong Sun, Yuantong Gu

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This paper presents a novel method for remaining useful life prediction using the Elliptical Basis Function (EBF) network and a Markov chain. The EBF structure is trained by a modified Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm in order to take into account the missing covariate set. No explicit extrapolation is needed for internal covariates while a Markov chain is constructed to represent the evolution of external covariates in the study. The estimated external and the unknown internal covariates constitute an incomplete covariate set which are then used and analyzed by the EBF network to provide survival information of the asset. It is shown in the case study that the method slightly underestimates the remaining useful life of an asset which is a desirable result for early maintenance decision and resource planning.

Keywords: Elliptical Basis Function Network, Markov Chain, Missing Covariates, Remaining Useful Life

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Authors: Reza Hassanpour, Asadollah Shahbahrami, Stephan Wong

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Skin color based tracking techniques often assume a static skin color model obtained either from an offline set of library images or the first few frames of a video stream. These models can show a weak performance in presence of changing lighting or imaging conditions. We propose an adaptive skin color model based on the Gaussian mixture model to handle the changing conditions. Initial estimation of the number and weights of skin color clusters are obtained using a modified form of the general Expectation maximization algorithm, The model adapts to changes in imaging conditions and refines the model parameters dynamically using spatial and temporal constraints. Experimental results show that the method can be used in effectively tracking of hand and face regions.

Keywords: Face detection, Segmentation, Tracking, Gaussian Mixture Model, Adaptation.

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Authors: Darren Thompson, Philip Morrow, Bryan Scotney, John Winder

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Patients with diabetes are susceptible to chronic foot wounds which may be difficult to manage and slow to heal. Diagnosis and treatment currently rely on the subjective judgement of experienced professionals. An objective method of tissue assessment is required. In this paper, a data fusion approach was taken to wound tissue classification. The supervised Maximum Likelihood and unsupervised Multi-Modal Expectation Maximisation algorithms were used to classify tissues within simulated wound models by weighting the contributions of both colour and 3D depth information. It was found that, at low weightings, depth information could show significant improvements in classification accuracy when compared to classification by colour alone, particularly when using the maximum likelihood method. However, larger weightings were found to have an entirely negative effect on accuracy.

Keywords: Classification, data fusion, diabetic foot, stereophotogrammetry, tissue colour.

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Authors: Christine K. Fulmer

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Social work education is competency based in nature. There is an expectation that graduates of social work programs throughout the world are to be prepared to practice at a level of competence, which is beneficial to both the well-being of individuals and community. Experiential learning is one way to prepare students for competent practice. The use of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a form experiential education that has been successful in a number of disciplines to bridge the gap between the theoretical concepts in the classroom to the real world. PBL aligns with the constructivist theoretical approach to learning, which emphasizes the integration of new knowledge with the beliefs students already hold. In addition, the basic tenants of PBL correspond well with the practice behaviors associated with social work practice including multi-disciplinary collaboration and critical thinking. This paper makes an argument for utilizing PBL in social work education.

Keywords: Constructivist theoretical approach, experiential learning, pedagogy, problem-based learning, social work education.

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Authors: D. G. Jung, J. B. Lim, J. H. Kim, J. J. Kim

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The international society focuses on the environment protection and natural energy sources control for the global cooperation against weather change and sustainable growth. The study presents the overview of the water shortage status and the necessity of wastewater reuse facility in military facilities and for the possibility of the introduction, compares the economics by means of cost-benefit analysis. The military features such as the number of users of military barracks and the water use were surveyed by the design principles by facility types, the application method of wastewater reuse facility was selected, the feed water, its application and the volume of reuse volume were defined and the expectation was estimated, confirming the possibility of introducing a wastewater reuse possibility by means of cost-benefit analysis.

Keywords: military barracks, wastewater reuse facility, cost-benefit analysis

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Authors: Daningsih Sulaeman, Achmad Sjarmidi, Djoko T. Iskandar

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Komodo National Park can be associated with the implementation of ecotourism program. The result of Principal Components Analysis is synthesized, tested, and compared to the basic concept of ecotourism with some field adjustments. Principal aspects of professional management should involve ecotourism and wildlife welfare. The awareness should be focused on the future of the Natural Park as 7^th Wonder Natural Heritage and its wildlife components, free from human wastes and beneficial to wildlife and local people. According to perceptions and expectations of visitors from various results of tourism programs, the visitor’s perceptions showed that the tourism management in Komodo National Park should pay more attention to visitor's satisfaction and expectation and gives positive impact directly to the ecosystem sustainability, local community and transparency to the conservation program.

Keywords: 7th Wonders of Nature, Ecotourism, Komodo dragon, visitor’s perceptions, wildlife management.

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Authors: Lule Herman, E. Ovuga, M. Mshilla, S. Ojara, G. Kimbugwe, A. P. Adrawa, N. Mahuro

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Adolescents in Northern Uganda are at risk of teenage pregnancies, unsafe abortions and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). There is silence on sex both at home and school. This cross sectional descriptive analytical study interviews a random sample of 827 students and 13 teachers on knowledge, perception and acceptability to a comprehensive adolescent sexual and reproductive health education in “O” and “A” level secondary schools in Gulu District. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS 16.0. Directed content analysis of themes of transcribed qualitative data was conducted manually for common codes, sub-categories and categories. Of the 827 students; 54.3% (449) reported being in a sexual relationship especially those aged 15-17 years. Majority 96.1% (807) supported the teaching of a comprehensive ASRHE, citing no negative impact 71.5% (601). Majority 81.6% (686) agreed that such education could help prevention of STIs, abortions and teenage pregnancies, and that it should be taught by health workers 69.0% (580). Majority 76.6% (203) reported that ASRHE was not currently being taught in their schools. Students had low knowledge levels and misconceptions about ASRHE. ASRHE was highly acceptable though not being emphasized; its success in school settings requires multidisciplinary culturally sensitive approaches amongst which health workers should be frontiers.

Keywords: Acceptability, ASRHE, Knowledge, Perception.

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Authors: A. G. Margaryan

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Ability of adaptation of the organism is considered as an important component of health in maintaining relative dynamic constancy of the hemostasis and functioning of all organs and systems. Among the various forms of adaptation (individual, species and mental), social adaptation of the organism has a particular role. The aim of this study was to evaluate the subjective perception of social factors, social welfare and the level of adaptability of Armenian physicians. The survey involved 2,167 physicians (592 men and 1,575 women). According to the survey, most physicians (75.1%) were married. It was found that 88.6% of respondents had harmonious family relationships, 7.6% of respondents – tense relationships, and 1.0% – marginal relationships. The results showed that the average monthly salary with all premium payments amounted to 88 263.6±5.0 drams, and 16.7% of physicians heavily relied on the material support of parents or other relatives. Low material welfare was also confirmed by the analysis of the living conditions. Analysis of the results showed that the degree of subjective perception of social factors of different specialties averaged 11.3±3.1 points, which corresponds to satisfactory results (a very good result – 4.0 points). The degree of social adaptation of physicians on average makes 4.13±1.9 points, which corresponds to poor results (allowable less than 3.0 points). The distribution of the results of social adaptation severity revealed that the majority of physicians (58.6%) showed low social adaptation, average social adaptation is observed in 22.4% of the physicians and high adaptation – in only 17.4% of physicians. In conclusions, the findings of this study suggest that the degree of social adaptation of currently practicing physicians is low.

Keywords: Physician's health, social adaptation, social factor, social health.

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Authors: Pintipa Seubsang, Suttipong Boonphadung

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Recently, Thai education system is engaged in serious and promising reforms. One of the crucial elements in most of these educational reforms is the teacher professional development. Teachers today are under growing pressure to perform. However, most new teachers are not adequately prepared to meet the expectation. Consequently, this paper seeks to investigate the opinion of mentor teachers and university supervisors about professional development in the aspect of learning management skill of the preservice teachers in Rajabhat Universities, then compare the opinion between the mentor teachers and university supervisors about professional development in the aspect of learning management skill of the pre-service teachers. The study involved a cohort of 40 university supervisors and 77 mentor teachers. The research concludes by showing that mentor teachers viewed pre-service teacher as a professional teacher with an effective learning management skill. However, in the perspective of the university supervisor, pre-service teachers still have inadequate learning management skill.

Keywords: Learning management, Professional development, Pre-service teacher.

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Authors: M. Fotuhi-Firuzabad, A. Salehi Dobakhshari

Abstract:

This paper presents a reliability-based approach to select appropriate wind turbine types for a wind farm considering site-specific wind speed patterns. An actual wind farm in the northern region of Iran with the wind speed registration of one year is studied in this paper. An analytic approach based on total probability theorem is utilized in this paper to model the probabilistic behavior of both turbines- availability and wind speed. Well-known probabilistic reliability indices such as loss of load expectation (LOLE), expected energy not supplied (EENS) and incremental peak load carrying capability (IPLCC) for wind power integration in the Roy Billinton Test System (RBTS) are examined. The most appropriate turbine type achieving the highest reliability level is chosen for the studied wind farm.

Keywords: Wind Turbine Generator, Wind Farm, Power System Reliability, Wind Turbine Type Selection

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