Abstract: In order to avoid the potentially devastating
consequences of global warming and climate change, the carbon
dioxide “CO2" emissions caused due to anthropogenic activities must
be reduced considerably. This paper presents the first study
examining the feasibility of carbon sequestration in construction and
demolition “C&D" waste. Experiments were carried out in a self
fabricated Batch Reactor at 40ºC, relative humidity of 50-70%, and
flow rate of CO2 at 10L/min for 1 hour for water-to-solids ratio of 0.2
to 1.2. The effect of surface area was found by comparing the
theoretical extent of carbonation of two different sieve sizes (0.3mm
and 2.36mm) of C&D waste. A 38.44% of the theoretical extent of
carbonation equating to 4% CO2 sequestration extent was obtained
for C&D waste sample for 0.3mm sieve size. Qualitative,
quantitative and morphological analyses were done to validate
carbonate formation using X-ray diffraction “X.R.D.," thermal
gravimetric analysis “T.G.A., “X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy
“X.R.F.," and scanning electron microscopy “S.E.M".
Abstract: This paper presents an analytical framework for an
effective online personal knowledge management (PKM) of
knowledge workers. The development of this framework is prompted
by our qualitative research on the PKM processes and cognitive
enablers of knowledge workers in eight organisations selected from
three main industries in Malaysia. This multiple-case research
identifies the relationships between the effectiveness of four online
PKM processes: get/retrieve, understand/analyse, share, and connect.
It also establishes the importance of cognitive enablers that mediate
this relationship, namely, method, identify, decide and drive.
Qualitative analysis is presented as the findings, supported by the
preceded quantitative analysis on an exploratory questionnaire
survey.
Abstract: Thai and Vietnamese music had been influenced and inspired by the traditional Chinese music. Whereby the differences of the tuning systems as well as the music modes are obviously known . The research examined the character of musical instruments, songs and culture between Thai and Vietnamese. An analyzing of songs and modes and the study of tone vibration as well as timbre had been done accurately. This qualitative research is based on documentary and songs analysis, field study, interviews and focus group discussion of Thai and Vietnamese masters. The research aims are to examine the musical instruments and songs of both Thai and Vietnamese as well as the comparison of the sounding system between Thailand and Vietnam. The finding of the research has revealed that there are similarities in certain kinds of instruments but differences in the sound systems regarding songs and scale of Thailand and Vietnam. Both cultural musical instruments are diverse and synthetic combining native and foreign inspiring. An integral part of Vietnam has been highly impacted by Chinese musical convention. Korea, Mongolia and Japan music have also play an active and effectively influenced as their geographical related. Whereas Thailand has been influenced by Chinese and Indian traditional music. Both Thai and Vietnamese musical instruments can be divided into four groups: plucked strings, bowed strings, winds and percussion. Songs from both countries have their own characteristics. They are playing a role in touching people heart in ceremonies, social functions and an essential element of the native performing arts. The Vietnamese music melodies have been influenced by Chinese music and taken the same character as Chinese songs. Thai song has specific identity and variety showed in its unique melody. Pentatonic scales have effectively been used in composing Thai and Vietnamese songs, but in different implementing concept.
Abstract: A numerical study is made of laminar, unsteady flow
behind a rotationally oscillating circular cylinder using a recently
developed higher order compact (HOC) scheme. The stream function
vorticity formulation of Navier-Stokes (N-S) equations in cylindrical
polar coordinates are considered as the governing equations. The
temporal behaviour of vortex formation and relevant streamline
patterns of the flow are scrutinized over broad ranges of two
externally specified parameters namely dimensionless forced
oscillating frequency Sf and dimensionless peak rotation rate αm for
the Reynolds-s number Re = 200. Excellent agreements are found
both qualitatively and quantitatively with the existing experimental
and standard numerical results.
Abstract: The resource-based view of the firm regards
knowledge as one of the most important organizational assets and a
key strategic resource that contributes unique value to organizations.
The acquisition, absorption and internalization of external
knowledge are central to an organization-s innovative capabilities.
This ability to evaluate, acquire and integrate new knowledge from
its environment is referred to as a firm-s absorptive capacity (AC).
This research in progress paper explores the link between interorganizational
Social Networks (SNs) and a firm-s Absorptive
Capacity (AC). Based on an in-depth literature survey of both
concepts, four propositions are proposed that explain the link
between AC and SNs. These propositions suggest that SNs are key
to a firm-s AC. A qualitative research method is proposed to test the
set of propositions in the next stage of this research.
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.
Abstract: Mobile payments have been deployed by businesses for more than a decade. Customers use mobile payments if they trust in this relatively new payment method, have a belief and confidence in, as well as reliance on its services and applications. Despite its potential, the current literature shows that there is lack of customer trust in B2C mobile payments, and a lack of studies that determine the factors that influence their trust in these payments; which make these factors yet to be understood, especially in the Middle East region. Thus, this study aims to explore the factors that influence customer trust in mobile payments. The empirical data for this explorative study was collected by establishing four focus group sessions in the UAE. The results indicate that the explored significant factors can be classified into five main groups: customer characteristics, environmental (social and cultural) influences, provider characteristics, mobile-device characteristics, and perceived risks.
Abstract: Shirvan is located in plain in Northern Khorasan province north east of Iran and has semiarid to temperate climate. To investigate the annual changes in some qualitative parameters such as electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids and chloride concentrations which have increased during ten continuous years. Fourteen groundwater sources including deep as well as semi-deep wells were sampled and were analyzed using standard methods. The trends of obtained data were analyzed during these years and the effects of different factors on the changes in electrical conductivity, concentration of chloride and total dissolved solids were clarified. The results showed that the amounts of some qualitative parameters have been increased during 10 years time which has led to decrease in water quality. The results also showed that increased in urban populations as well as extensive industrialization in the studied area are the most important reasons to influence underground water quality. Furthermore decrease in water quantity is also evident due to more water utilization and occurrence of recent droughts in the region during recent years.
Abstract: This paper deals with the project selection problem. Project selection problem is one of the problems arose firstly in the field of operations research following some production concepts from primary product mix problem. Afterward, introduction of managerial considerations into the project selection problem have emerged qualitative factors and criteria to be regarded as well as quantitative ones. To overcome both kinds of criteria, an analytic network process is developed in this paper enhanced with fuzzy sets theory to tackle the vagueness of experts- comments to evaluate the alternatives. Additionally, a modified version of Least-Square method through a non-linear programming model is augmented to the developed group decision making structure in order to elicit the final weights from comparison matrices. Finally, a case study is considered by which developed structure in this paper is validated. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis is performed to validate the response of the model with respect to the condition alteration.
Abstract: This contribution aims to outline some topics around the process of introduction of compulsory electronic exchange of documents (so called e-Boxes) in public administration. The research was conducted in order to gauge the difference between the expectation of those using internal email and their experience in reality. Both qualitative and quantitative research is employed to lead also to an estimation of the willingness and readiness of government bodies, business units and citizens to adopt new technologies. At the same time the most potent barriers to successful e-communication through the e-Boxes are identified.
Abstract: An effective visual error concealment method has been presented by employing a robust rotation, scale, and translation (RST) invariant partial patch matching model (RSTI-PPMM) and
exemplar-based inpainting. While the proposed robust and inherently
feature-enhanced texture synthesis approach ensures the generation
of excellent and perceptually plausible visual error concealment results, the outlier pruning property guarantees the significant quality improvements, both quantitatively and qualitatively. No intermediate
user-interaction is required for the pre-segmented media and the
presented method follows a bootstrapping approach for an automatic
visual loss recovery and the image and video error concealment.
Abstract: Work-life balance has been acknowledged and
promoted for the sake of employee retention. It is essential for a
manager to realize the human resources situation within a company to
help employees work happily and perform at their best. This paper
suggests knowledge management and critical thinking are useful to
motivate employees to think about their work-life balance. A
qualitative case study is presented, which aimed to discover the
meaning of work-life balance-s meaning from the perspective of Thai
knowledge workers and how it affects their decision-making towards
work resignation. Results found three types of work-life balance
dimensions; a work- life balance including a workplace and a private
life setting, an organizational working life balance only, and a worklife
balance only in a private life setting. These aspects all influenced
the decision-making of the employees. Factors within a theme of an
organizational work-life balance were involved with systematic
administration, fair treatment, employee recognition, challenging
assignments to gain working experience, assignment engagement,
teamwork, relationship with superiors, and working environment,
while factors concerning private life settings were about personal
demands such as an increasing their salary or starting their own
business.
Abstract: Since the beginning of human history, human
activities have caused many changes in the environment. Today, a
particular attention should be paid to gaining knowledge about water
quality of wetlands which are pristine natural environments rich in
genetic reserves. If qualitative conditions of industrial areas (in terms
of both physicochemical and biological conditions) are not addressed
properly, they could cause disruption in natural ecosystems,
especially in rivers. With regards to the quality of water resources,
determination of pollutant sources plays a pivotal role in engineering
projects as well as designing water quality control systems. Thus,
using different methods such as flow duration curves, dischargepollution
load model and frequency analysis by HYFA software
package, risk of various industrial pollutants in international and
ecologically important Gavkhoni wetland is analyzed. In this study, a
station located at Varzaneh City is used as the last station on
Zayanderud River, from where the river water is discharged into the
wetland. Results showed that elements- concentrations often
exceeded the allowed level and river water can endanger regional
ecosystem. In addition, if the river discharge is managed on Q25
basis, this basis can lower concentrations of elements, keeping them
within the normal level.
Abstract: The objective of this paper is twofold: (1) discuss and
analyze the successful case studies worldwide, and (2) identify the
similarities and differences of case studies worldwide. Design
methodology/approach: The nature of this research is mainly method
qualitative (multi-case studies, literature review). This investigation
uses ten case studies, and the data was mainly collected and
organizational documents from the international countries. Finding:
The finding of this research can help incubator manager, policy
maker and government parties for successful implementation.
Originality/value: This paper contributes to the current literate review
on the best practices worldwide. Additionally, it presents future
perspective for academicians and practitioners.
Abstract: The objective of the study is to investigate the
effect of a footballer-s postural on selected physical fitness
components. Twenty-one (21) subjects of the university male
footballers under the Sport Excellence Center programme were
photographed using qualitative analysis. The postural variables
were stratified manually into normal and anomalies group and
their flexibility, strength and SAQ performance were
compared using the Mann-Whitney Test. The AROM
assessment and SAQ test reported no significance difference
(Z=-.398, p=0.711, p>0.05), similar to the lower body strength
was shown with no significance different (Z=-.493, p=0.640,
p>0.05). In contrast, only 1 RM strength test for the upper
body strength test shown with a significance different (Z=-
2.537, p=0.009, p
Abstract: Here we report on the utilization of Laser-Induced
Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) for determination of Quantum Dots
(QDs) in liquid solution. The process of optimization of experimental
conditions from choosing the carrier medium to application of colloid
QDs is described. The main goal was to get the best possible signal to
noise ratio.
The results obtained from the measurements confirmed the capability
of LIBS technique for qualitative and afterwards quantitative
determination of QDs in liquid solution.
Abstract: Our results showed that for the growth of qualitative
seedling and vegetative raw material of ðó. marschallianus Willd. and
T. serphyllum L. it is more profitable to use the in vitro and
hydroponics combined method. In in vitro culture it is possible to do
micro-propagation whole year with 98-99% rhizogenesis. 30000
micro-plants were obtained from one explant during 9 months.
Hydroponic conditions provide the necessary microclimate for
microplants where the survival rate without acclimatization was
93.3%. The essential oil content in hydroponic dry herb of both
species in vegetative and blossom phase was 1.3% whereas in wild
plants it was 1.2%, the content of extractive substances and vitamin
C also exceeded wild plants. Our biochemical and radiochemical
investigations indicated that the medicinal raw materials obtained
from hydroponic and wild plants of Thymus species correspond to
the demands of SPh XI, and the content of artificial radionuclides
does not exceed the MACL.
Abstract: This paper discusses the causal explanation capability
of QRIOM, a tool aimed at supporting learning of organic chemistry
reactions. The development of the tool is based on the hybrid use of
Qualitative Reasoning (QR) technique and Qualitative Process
Theory (QPT) ontology. Our simulation combines symbolic,
qualitative description of relations with quantity analysis to generate
causal graphs. The pedagogy embedded in the simulator is to both
simulate and explain organic reactions. Qualitative reasoning through
a causal chain will be presented to explain the overall changes made
on the substrate; from initial substrate until the production of final
outputs. Several uses of the QPT modeling constructs in supporting
behavioral and causal explanation during run-time will also be
demonstrated. Explaining organic reactions through causal graph
trace can help improve the reasoning ability of learners in that their
conceptual understanding of the subject is nurtured.
Abstract: Friction-stir welding has received a huge interest in the last few years. The many advantages of this promising process have led researchers to present different theoretical and experimental explanation of the process. The way to quantitatively and qualitatively control the different parameters of the friction-stir welding process has not been paved. In this study, a refined energybased model that estimates the energy generated due to friction and plastic deformation is presented. The effect of the plastic deformation at low energy levels is significant and hence a scale factor is introduced to control its effect. The predicted heat energy and the obtained maximum temperature using our model are compared to the theoretical and experimental results available in the literature and a good agreement is obtained. The model is applied to AA6000 and AA7000 series.
Abstract: With the rapid growth and development of information and communication technology, the Internet has played a definite and irreplaceable role in people-s social lives in Taiwan like in other countries. In July 2008, on a general social website, an unexpected phenomenon was noticed – that there were more than one hundred users who started forming clubs voluntarily and having face-to-face gatherings for specific purposes. In this study, it-s argued whether or not teenagers- social contact on the Internet is involved in their life context, and tried to reveal the teenagers- social preferences, values, and needs, which merge with and influence teenagers- social activities. Therefore, the study conducts multiple user experience research methods, which include practical observations and qualitative analysis by contextual inquiries and in-depth interviews. Based on the findings, several design implications for software related to social interactions and cultural inheritance are offered. It is concluded that the inherent values of a social behaviors might be a key issue in developing computer-mediated communication or interaction designs in the future.