Abstract: HMS Industrial Networks AB has been recognized as
one of the most innovative companies in the industrial
communication industry worldwide. The creation of their Anybus
innovation during the 1990s contributed considerably to the
company’s success. From inception, HMS’ employees were
innovating for the purpose of creating new business (the creation
phase). After the Anybus innovation, they began the process of
internationalization (the commercialization phase), which in turn led
them to concentrate on cost reduction, product quality, delivery
precision, operational efficiency, and increasing growth (the growth
phase). As a result of this transformation, performing new radical
innovations have become more complicated. The purpose of our research was to explore the dynamics of
innovation at HMS from the aspect of key actors, activities, and
events, over the three phases, in order to understand what led to the
creation of their Anybus innovation, and why it has become
increasingly challenging for HMS to create new radical innovations
for the future. Our research methodology was based on a longitudinal,
retrospective study from the inception of HMS in 1988 to 2014, a
single case study inspired by the grounded theory approach. We
conducted 47 interviews and collected 1 024 historical documents for
our research. Our analysis has revealed that HMS’ success in creating the
Anybus, and developing a successful business around the innovation,
was based on three main capabilities – cultivating customer relations
on different managerial and organizational levels, inspiring business
relations, and balancing complementary human assets for the purpose
of business creation. The success of HMS has turned the management’s attention away
from past activities of key actors, of their behavior, and how they
influenced and stimulated the creation of radical innovations.
Nowadays, they are rhetorically focusing on creativity and
innovation. All the while, their real actions put emphasis on growth,
cost reduction, product quality, delivery precision, operational
efficiency, and moneymaking. In the process of becoming an
international company, HMS gradually refocused. In so doing they
became profitable and successful, but they also forgot what made
them innovative in the first place. Fortunately, HMS’ management
has come to realize that this is the case and they are now in search of
recapturing innovation once again. Our analysis indicates that HMS’ management is facing several
barriers to innovation related path dependency and other lock-in
phenomena. HMS’ management has been captured, trapped in their
mindset and actions, by the success of the past. But now their future has to be secured, and they have come to realize that moneymaking is
not everything. In recent years, HMS’ management have begun to
search for innovation once more, in order to recapture their past
capabilities for creating radical innovations. In order to unlock their
managerial perceptions of customer needs and their counter-innovation
driven activities and events, to utilize the full potential of
their employees and capture the innovation opportunity for the future.
Abstract: Strategic investment decisions are characterized by
high innovation potential and long-term effects on the
competitiveness of enterprises. Due to the uncertainty and risks
involved in this complex decision making process, the need arises for
well-structured support activities. A method that considers cost and
the long-term added value is the cost-benefit effectiveness estimation.
One of those methods is the “profitability estimation focused on
benefits – PEFB”-method developed at the Institute of Management
Cybernetics at RWTH Aachen University. The method copes with
the challenges associated with strategic investment decisions by
integrating long-term non-monetary aspects whilst also mapping the
chronological sequence of an investment within the organization’s
target system. Thus, this method is characterized as a holistic
approach for the evaluation of costs and benefits of an investment.
This participation-oriented method was applied to business
environments in many workshops. The results of the workshops are a
library of more than 96 cost aspects, as well as 122 benefit aspects.
These aspects are preprocessed and comparatively analyzed with
regards to their alignment to a series of risk levels. For the first time,
an accumulation and a distribution of cost and benefit aspects
regarding their impact and probability of occurrence are given. The
results give evidence that the PEFB-method combines precise
measures of financial accounting with the incorporation of benefits.
Finally, the results constitute the basics for using information
technology and data science for decision support when applying
within the PEFB-method.
Abstract: This article describes the implementation of an
experimental model for teaching ICT tools and digital environments
in teachers training college. In most educational systems in the
Western world, new programs were developed in order to bridge the
digital gap between teachers and students. In spite of their
achievements, these programs are limited due to several factors: The
teachers in the schools implement new methods incorporating
technological tools into the curriculum, but meanwhile the
technology changes and advances. The interface of tools changes
frequently, some tools disappear and new ones are invented. These
conditions require an experimental model of training the pre-service
teachers. The appropriate method for instruction within the domain of
ICT tools should be based on exposing the learners to innovations,
helping them to gain experience, teaching them how to deal with
challenges and difficulties on their own, and training them. This
study suggests some principles for this approach and describes step
by step the implementation of this model.
Abstract: Smart metering and demand response are gaining
ground in industrial and residential applications. Smart Appliances
have been given concern towards achieving Smart home. The success
of Smart grid development relies on the successful implementation of
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in power sector.
Smart Appliances have been the technology under development and
many new contributions to its realization have been reported in the
last few years. The role of ICT here is to capture data in real time,
thereby allowing bi-directional flow of information/data between
producing and utilization point; that lead a way for the attainment of
Smart appliances where home appliances can communicate between
themselves and provide a self-control (switch on and off) using the
signal (information) obtained from the grid. This paper depicts the
background on ICT for smart appliances paying a particular attention
to the current technology and identifying the future ICT trends for
load monitoring through which smart appliances can be achieved to
facilitate an efficient smart home system which promote demand
response program. This paper grouped and reviewed the recent
contributions, in order to establish the current state of the art and
trends of the technology, so that the reader can be provided with a
comprehensive and insightful review of where ICT for smart
appliances stands and is heading to. The paper also presents a brief
overview of communication types, and then narrowed the discussion
to the load monitoring (Non-intrusive Appliances Load Monitoring
‘NALM’). Finally, some future trends and challenges in the further
development of the ICT framework are discussed to motivate future
contributions that address open problems and explore new
possibilities.
Abstract: Cloud computing can reduce the start-up expenses of implementing EHR (Electronic Health Records). However, many of the healthcare institutions are yet to implement cloud computing due to the associated privacy and security issues. In this paper, we analyze the challenges and opportunities of implementing cloud computing in healthcare. We also analyze data of over 5000 US hospitals that use Telemedicine applications. This analysis helps to understand the importance of smart phones over the desktop systems in different departments of the healthcare institutions. The wide usage of smartphones and cloud computing allows ubiquitous and affordable access to the health data by authorized persons, including patients and doctors. Cloud computing will prove to be beneficial to a majority of the departments in healthcare. Through this analysis, we attempt to understand the different healthcare departments that may benefit significantly from the implementation of cloud computing.
Abstract: E-Learning enables the users to learn at anywhere at
any time. In E-Learning systems, authenticating the E-Learning user
has security issues. The usage of appropriate communication
networks for providing the internet connectivity for E-learning is
another challenge. WiMAX networks provide Broadband Wireless
Access through the Multicast Broadcast Service so these networks
can be most suitable for E-Learning applications. The authentication
of E-Learning user is vulnerable to session hijacking problems. The
repeated authentication of users can be done to overcome these
issues. In this paper, session based Profile Caching Authentication is
proposed. In this scheme, the credentials of E-Learning users can be
cached at authentication server during the initial authentication
through the appropriate subscriber station. The proposed cache based
authentication scheme performs fast authentication by using cached
user profile. Thus, the proposed authentication protocol reduces the
delay in repeated authentication to enhance the security in ELearning.
Abstract: The inverted pendulum system is a classic control
problem that is used in universities around the world. It is a suitable
process to test prototype controllers due to its high non-linearities and
lack of stability. The inverted pendulum represents a challenging
control problem, which continually moves toward an uncontrolled
state. This paper presents the possibility of balancing an inverted
pendulum system using sliding mode control (SMC). The goal is to
determine which control strategy delivers better performance with
respect to pendulum’s angle and cart's position. Therefore,
proportional-integral-derivative (PID) is used for comparison. Results
have proven SMC control produced better response compared to PID
control in both normal and noisy systems.
Abstract: Open jet testing is a valuable testing technique which
provides the desired results with reasonable accuracy. It has been
used in past for the airships and now has recently been applied for the
hybrid ones, having more non-buoyant force coming from the wings,
empennage and the fuselage. In the present review work, an effort
has been done to review the challenges involved in open jet testing.
In order to shed light on the application of this technique, the
experimental results of two different configurations are presented.
Although, the aerodynamic results of such vehicles are unique to its
own design; however, it will provide a starting point for planning any
future testing. Few important testing areas which need more attention
are also highlighted. Most of the hybrid buoyant aerial vehicles are
unconventional in shape and there experimental data is generated,
which is unique to its own design.
Abstract: Green roof system is considered a relatively new
concept in Malaysia even though it has been implemented widely in
the developed countries. Generally, green roofs provide many
benefits such as enhancing aesthetical quality of the built
environment, reduce urban heat island effect, reduce energy
consumption, improve stormwater attenuation, and reduce noise
pollution. A better understanding on the implementation of green roof
system in Malaysia is crucial, as Malaysia’s climate is different if
compared with the climate in temperate countries where most of the
green roof studies have been conducted. This study has concentrated
on the technical aspect of green roof system which focuses on i) types
of plants and method of planting; ii) engineering design for green
roof system; iii) its hydrological performance on reducing stormwater
runoff; and iv) benefits of green roofs with respect to energy.
Literature review has been conducted to identify the development and
obstacles associated with green roofs systems in Malaysia. The study
had identified the challenges and potentials of green roofs
development in Malaysia. This study also provided the
recommendations on standard design and strategies on the
implementation of green roofs in Malaysia in the near future.
Abstract: Aerobic dance has becoming a popular mode of
exercise especially among women due to its fun nature. With a catchy
music background and joyful dance steps, aerobic dancers would be
able to have fun while sweating out. Depending on its level of
aggressiveness, aerobic may also improve and maintain
cardiorespiratory fitness other than being a great tool for weight loss.
This study intends to prove that aerobic dance activity can bring the
same, if not better impacts on health than other types of
cardiovascular exercise such as jogging and cycling. The objective of
this study was to evaluate and identify the effect of six weeks aerobic
dance on cardiovascular fitness and weight loss among women. This
study, which was held in Seremban Fit Challenge, used a quasiexperimental
design. The subjects selected include a total of 14
women (n = 14) with age (32.4 years old ± 9.1), weight (65.93 kg ±
11.24) and height (165.36 ± 3.46) who joined the Seremban Fit
Challenge Season 13. The subjects were asked to join an aerobic
dance class with a duration of one hour for six weeks in a row. As for
the outcome, cardiovascular fitness was measured with a 1-mile run
test while any changes on weight were measured using the weighing
scale. The result showed that there was a significant difference
between pre and post-test for cardiovascular fitness when p = 0.02
Abstract: This paper outlines the development of an
experimental technique in quantifying supersonic jet flows, in an
attempt to avoid seeding particle problems frequently associated with
particle-image velocimetry (PIV) techniques at high Mach numbers.
Based on optical flow algorithms, the idea behind the technique
involves using high speed cameras to capture Schlieren images of the
supersonic jet shear layers, before they are subjected to an adapted
optical flow algorithm based on the Horn-Schnuck method to
determine the associated flow fields. The proposed method is capable
of offering full-field unsteady flow information with potentially
higher accuracy and resolution than existing point-measurements or
PIV techniques. Preliminary study via numerical simulations of a
circular de Laval jet nozzle successfully reveals flow and shock
structures typically associated with supersonic jet flows, which serve
as useful data for subsequent validation of the optical flow based
experimental results. For experimental technique, a Z-type Schlieren
setup is proposed with supersonic jet operated in cold mode,
stagnation pressure of 4 bar and exit Mach of 1.5. High-speed singleframe
or double-frame cameras are used to capture successive
Schlieren images. As implementation of optical flow technique to
supersonic flows remains rare, the current focus revolves around
methodology validation through synthetic images. The results of
validation test offers valuable insight into how the optical flow
algorithm can be further improved to improve robustness and
accuracy. Despite these challenges however, this supersonic flow
measurement technique may potentially offer a simpler way to
identify and quantify the fine spatial structures within the shock shear
layer.
Abstract: Motion response of floating structures is of great
concern in marine engineering. Nonlinearity is an inherent property
of any floating bodies subjected to irregular waves. These floating
structures are continuously subjected to environmental loadings from
wave, current, wind etc. This can result in undesirable motions of the
vessel which may challenge the operability. For a floating body to
remain in its position, it should be able to induce a restoring force
when displaced. Mooring is provided to enable this restoring force.
This paper discusses the hydrodynamic performance and motion
characteristics of an 8 point spread mooring system applied to a pipe
laying barge operating in the West African sea. The modelling of the
barge is done using a computer aided-design (CAD) software
RHINOCEROS. Irregular waves are generated using a suitable wave
spectrum. Both frequency domain and time domain analysis is done.
Numerical simulations based on potential theory are carried out to
find the responses and hydrodynamic performance of the barge in
both free floating as well as moored conditions. Initially, potential
flow frequency domain analysis is done to obtain the Response
Amplitude Operator (RAO) which gives an idea about the structural
motion in free floating state. RAOs for different wave headings are
analyzed. In the following step, a time domain analysis is carried out
to obtain the responses of the structure in the moored condition. In
this study, wave induced motions are only taken into consideration.
Wind and current loads are ruled out and shall be included in further
studies. For the current study, 2000 seconds simulation is taken. The
results represent wave induced motion responses, mooring line
tensions and identify critical mooring lines.
Abstract: This paper explored the challenges faced by the
management of a Ghanaian state enterprise in managing conflicts and
disturbances associated with its attempt to implement new work
practices to enhance its capability to operate as a commercial entity.
The purpose was to understand the extent to which organizational
involvement, consistency and adaptability influence employees’
consumption of new work practices in transforming the
organization’s organizational activity system. Using selfadministered
questionnaires, data were collected from one hundred
and eighty (180) employees and analyzed using both descriptive and
inferential statistics. The results showed that constraints in
organizational involvement and adaptability prevented the positive
consumption of new work practices by employees in the
organization. It is also found that the organization’s employees failed
to consume the new practices being implemented, because they
perceived the process as non-involving, and as such, did not
encourage the development of employee capability, empowerment,
and teamwork. The study concluded that the failure of the
organization’s management to create opportunities for organizational
learning constrained its ability to get employees consume the new
work practices, which situation could have facilitated the
organization’s capabilities of operating as a commercial entity.
Abstract: The paper focuses on the distance laboratory
organisation for training the electrical engineering staff and students
in the fields of electrical drive and power electronics. To support
online knowledge acquisition and professional enhancement, new
challenges in remote education based on an active learning approach
with self-assessment have been emerged by the authors. Following
the literature review and explanation of the improved assessment
methodology, the concept and technological basis of the labs
arrangement are presented. To decrease the gap between the distance
study of the up-to-date equipment and other educational activities in
electrical engineering, the improvements in the following-up the
learners’ progress and feedback composition are introduced. An
authoring methodology that helps to personalise knowledge
acquisition and enlarge Web-based possibilities is described.
Educational management based on self-assessment is discussed.
Abstract: The research aims to investigate the occurrence of
multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter, in carrot and estimate the role of
carrot in its transmission in a rapidly growing urban population.
Thus, 50 carrot samples were collected from Jakara wastewater
irrigation farms and are analyzed on MacConkey agar and screened
by Microbact 24E (Oxoid) and susceptibility of isolates is tested
against 10 commonly used antibiotics. Acinetobacter baumannii and
A. lwoffii were isolated in 22.00% and 16% of samples respectively.
Resistance to ceporex and penicillin of 36.36% and 27.27% in A.
baumannii, and sensitivity to ofloxacin, pefloxacin, gentimycin and
co-trimoxazole were observed. However, for A. lwoffii apart from
37.50% resistance to ceporex, it was also resistant to all other drugs
tested. There were similarities in the resistances shown by A.
baumannii and A. lwoffii to fluoroquinolones and β- lactame drug
families in addition to between sulfonamide and animoglycoside
demonstrated by A. lwoffii. Significant correlation in similarities were
observed at P < 0.05 to CPX to NA (46.2%), and SXT to AU (52.6%)
A. baumannii and A. lwoffii respectively and high multi drug
resistance (MDR) of 27.27% and 62.50% by A. baumannii and A.
lwoffii respectively. The occurrence of multidrug-resistance pathogen
in carrot is a serious challenge to public health care, especially in a
rapidly growing urban population where subsistence agriculture
contributes greatly to urban livelihood and source of vegetables.
Abstract: The acceptance of sustainable products by the final
consumer is still one of the challenges of the industry, which
constantly seeks alternative approaches to successfully be accepted in
the global market. A large set of methods and approaches have been
discussed and analysed throughout the literature. Considering the current need for sustainable development and the
current pace of consumption, the need for a combined solution
towards the development of new products became clear, forcing
researchers in product development to propose alternatives to the
previous standard product development models. This paper presents, through a systemic analysis of the literature
on product development, eco-design and consumer involvement, a set
of alternatives regarding consumer involvement towards the
development of sustainable products and how these approaches could
help improve the sustainable industry’s establishment in the general
market. Still being developed in the course of the author’s PhD, the initial
findings of the research show that the understanding of the benefits of
sustainable behaviour lead to a more conscious acquisition and
eventually to the implementation of sustainable change in the
consumer. Thus this paper is the initial approach towards the
development of new sustainable products using the fashion industry
as an example of practical implementation and acceptance by the
consumers. By comparing the existing literature and critically analysing it, this
paper concluded that the consumer involvement is strategic to
improve the general understanding of sustainability and its features.
The use of consumers and communities has been studied since the
early 90s in order to exemplify uses and to guarantee a fast
comprehension. The analysis done also includes the importance of
this approach for the increase of innovation and ground breaking
developments, thus requiring further research and practical
implementation in order to better understand the implications and
limitations of this methodology.
Abstract: Background modeling and subtraction in video
analysis has been widely used as an effective method for moving
objects detection in many computer vision applications. Recently, a
large number of approaches have been developed to tackle different
types of challenges in this field. However, the dynamic background
and illumination variations are the most frequently occurred problems
in the practical situation. This paper presents a favorable two-layer
model based on codebook algorithm incorporated with local binary
pattern (LBP) texture measure, targeted for handling dynamic
background and illumination variation problems. More specifically,
the first layer is designed by block-based codebook combining with
LBP histogram and mean value of each RGB color channel. Because
of the invariance of the LBP features with respect to monotonic
gray-scale changes, this layer can produce block wise detection results
with considerable tolerance of illumination variations. The pixel-based
codebook is employed to reinforce the precision from the output of the
first layer which is to eliminate false positives further. As a result, the
proposed approach can greatly promote the accuracy under the
circumstances of dynamic background and illumination changes.
Experimental results on several popular background subtraction
datasets demonstrate very competitive performance compared to
previous models.
Abstract: Companies face increasing challenges in research due
to higher costs and risks. The intensifying technology complexity and
interdisciplinarity require unique know-how. Therefore, companies
need to decide whether research shall be conducted internally or
externally with partners. On the other hand, research institutes meet
increasing efforts to achieve good financing and to maintain high
research reputation. Therefore, relevant research topics need to be
identified and specialization of competency is necessary. However,
additional competences for solving interdisciplinary research projects
are also often required. Secured financing can be achieved by
bonding industry partners as well as public fundings. The realization
of faster and better research drives companies and research institutes
to cooperate in organized research networks, which are managed by
an administrative organization. For an effective and efficient
cooperation, necessary processes, roles, tools and a set of rules need
to be determined. Goal of this paper is to show the state-of-art
research and to propose a governance framework for organized
research networks.
Abstract: English like any other language is rich by means of arbitrary, conventional, symbols which lend it to lot of inconsistencies in spelling, phonology, syntax, and morphology. The research examines the irregularities prevalent in the structure and meaning of some ‘er’ lexical items in English and its implication to vocabulary acquisition. It centers its investigation on the derivational suffix ‘er’, which changes the grammatical category of word. English language poses many challenges to Second Language Learners because of its irregularities, exceptions, and rules. One of the meaning of –er derivational suffix is someone or somebody who does something. This rule often confuses the learners when they meet with the exceptions in normal discourse. The need to investigate instances of such inconsistencies in the formation of –er words and the meanings given to such words by the students motivated this study. For this purpose, some senior secondary two (SS2) students in six randomly selected schools in the metropolis were provided a large number of alphabetically selected ‘er’ suffix ending words, The researcher opts for a test technique, which requires them to provide the meaning of the selected words with- er. The marking of the test was scored on the scale of 1-0, where correct formation of –er word and meaning is scored one while wrong formation and meaning is scored zero. The number of wrong and correct formations of –er words meaning were calculated using percentage. The result of this research shows that a large number of students made wrong generalization of the meaning of the selected -er ending words. This shows how enormous the inconsistencies are in English language and how are affect the learning of English. Findings from the study revealed that though students mastered the basic morphological rules but the errors are generally committed on those vocabulary items that are not frequently in use. The study arrives at this conclusion from the survey of their textbook and their spoken activities. Therefore, the researcher recommends that there should be effective reappraisal of language teaching through implementation of the designed curriculum to reflect on modern strategies of teaching language, identification, and incorporation of the exceptions in rigorous communicative activities in language teaching, language course books and tutorials, training and retraining of teachers on the strategies that conform to the new pedagogy.
Abstract: Online measurement of the product quality is a
challenging task in cement production, especially in the production of
Celitement, a novel environmentally friendly hydraulic binder. The
mineralogy and chemical composition of clinker in ordinary Portland
cement production is measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and
X-ray fluorescence (XRF), where only crystalline constituents can be
detected. But only a small part of the Celitement components can be
measured via XRD, because most constituents have an amorphous
structure. This paper describes the development of algorithms
suitable for an on-line monitoring of the final processing step of
Celitement based on NIR-data. For calibration intermediate products
were dried at different temperatures and ground for variable
durations. The products were analyzed using XRD and
thermogravimetric analyses together with NIR-spectroscopy to
investigate the dependency between the drying and the milling
processes on one and the NIR-signal on the other side. As a result,
different characteristic parameters have been defined. A short
overview of the Celitement process and the challenging tasks of the
online measurement and evaluation of the product quality will be
presented. Subsequently, methods for systematic development of
near-infrared calibration models and the determination of the final
calibration model will be introduced. The application of the model on
experimental data illustrates that NIR-spectroscopy allows for a quick
and sufficiently exact determination of crucial process parameters.