Abstract: This work proposed a multi-objective mathematical programming approach to select the appropriate supply network elements. The multi-item multi-objective production-distribution inventory model is formulated with possible constraints under fuzzy environment. The unit cost has taken under fuzzy environment. The inventory model and warehouse location model has combined to formulate the production-distribution inventory model. Warehouse location is important in supply chain network. Particularly, if a company maintains more selling stores it cannot maintain individual secondary warehouse near to each selling store. Hence, maintaining the optimum number of secondary warehouses is important. Hence, the combined mathematical model is formulated to reduce the total expenditure of the organization by arranging the network of minimum number of secondary warehouses. Numerical example has been taken to illustrate the proposed model.
Abstract: In this paper, a genetic-neural-network (GNN) based large-signal model for GaN HEMTs is presented along with its parameters extraction procedure. The model is easy to construct and implement in CAD software and requires only DC and S-parameter measurements. An improved decomposition technique is used to model self-heating effect. Two GNN models are constructed to simulate isothermal drain current and power dissipation, respectively. The two model are then composed to simulate the drain current. The modeling procedure was applied to a packaged GaN-on-Si HEMT and the developed model is validated by comparing its large-signal simulation with measured data. A very good agreement between the simulation and measurement is obtained.
Abstract: Information security plays a major role in uplifting the standard of secured communications via global media. In this paper, we have suggested a technique of encryption followed by insertion before transmission. Here, we have implemented two different concepts to carry out the above-specified tasks. We have used a two-point crossover technique of the genetic algorithm to facilitate the encryption process. For each of the uniquely identified rows of pixels, different mathematical methodologies are applied for several conditions checking, in order to figure out all the parent pixels on which we perform the crossover operation. This is done by selecting two crossover points within the pixels thereby producing the newly encrypted child pixels, and hence the encrypted cover image. In the next lap, the first and second order derivative operators are evaluated to increase the security and robustness. The last lap further ensures reapplication of the crossover procedure to form the final stego-image. The complexity of this system as a whole is huge, thereby dissuading the third party interferences. Also, the embedding capacity is very high. Therefore, a larger amount of secret image information can be hidden. The imperceptible vision of the obtained stego-image clearly proves the proficiency of this approach.
Abstract: Under the thrust of technological changes, population growth and vehicular traffic, Iranian historical squares have lost their significance and they are no longer the main social nodes of the society. This research focuses on how historical public squares can inspire designers to enhance social interactions among citizens in Iranian urban context. Moreover, the recent master plan of Tehran demonstrates the lack of public spaces designed for the purpose of people’s social gatherings. For filling this gap, first the current situation of 7 selected primary historical public squares in Tehran including Sabze Meydan, Arg, Topkhaneh, Baherstan, Mokhber-al-dole, Rah Ahan and Hassan Abad have been compared. Later, the influencing elements on social interactions of the public squares such as subjective factors (human relationships and memories) and objective factors (natural and built environment) have been investigated. As a conclusion, some strategies are proposed for improving social interactions in historical public squares like; holding cultural, national, athletic and religious events, defining different and new functions in public squares’ surrounding, increasing pedestrian routs, reviving the collective memory, demonstrating the historical importance of square, eliminating visual obstacles across the square, organization the natural elements of the square, appropriate pavement for social activities. Finally, it is argued that the combination of all influencing factors which are: human interactions, natural elements and built environment criteria will lead to enhance the historical public squares’ potential for social interaction.
Abstract: Processes of production of innovative medical tools have interdisciplinary character. They consist of direct and indirect close cooperation of specialists of different scientific branches. The Knowledge they have seems to be important for undertaken design, construction and manufacturing processes. The Knowledge exchange between participants of these processes is therefore crucial for the final result, which are innovative medical products. The paper draws attention to the necessity of feedback from the end user to the designer / manufacturer of medical tools which will allow for more accurate understanding of user needs. The study describes prerequisites of production processes of innovative medical (surgical) tools including participants and category of knowledge resources occurring in these processes. They are the result of research in selected Polish organizations involved in the production of medical instruments and are the basis for further work on the development of knowledge sharing model in interdisciplinary teams geographically dispersed.
Abstract: This study examined the extent of statistical significant difference between the economic, environmental, governance and social aspects of sustainability reporting as a result of board committee on sustainability and time (year) of reporting for business organizations in the Nigerian banking sector. The years of reporting under consideration were 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Content analysis methodology was employed through a reporting index used to score the amount of economic, environmental, governance and social indicators of sustainability reporting. The results of this study indicated that business organizations with board committee on sustainability had more indicators of sustainability reporting than those without board committees on sustainability issues. Also, sustainability reporting in 2013 was higher than that of prior years (2012, 2011 and 2010) for the economic, environmental and social indicators. The governance indicators of 2012 was highest compared to the other years (2013, 2011 and 2010) under consideration in this study. The implication of this finding is that business organizations that have board committees on sustainability are monitored by such boards to report more to their stakeholders. On the other hand, business organizations are appreciating the need to engage in sustainability reporting with each passing year. This could be due to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Sustainability Reporting framework that business organizations in the banking sector have to adhere to. When sustainability issues are monitored from the board of directors, business organizations are likely to increase and improve on their sustainability reporting.
Abstract: Hazard management that can prevent fatal accidents and property losses is a fundamental process during the buildings’ construction stage. However, due to lack of safety supervision resources and operational pressures, the conduction of hazard management is poor and ineffective in China. In order to improve the quality of construction safety management, it is critical to explore the use of information technologies to ensure that the process of hazard management is efficient and effective. After exploring the existing problems of construction hazard management in China, this paper develops the griddization management model for construction hazard management. First, following the knowledge grid infrastructure, the griddization computing infrastructure for construction hazards management is designed which includes five layers: resource entity layer, information management layer, task management layer, knowledge transformation layer and application layer. This infrastructure will be as the technical support for realizing grid management. Second, this study divides the construction hazards into grids through city level, district level and construction site level according to grid principles. Last, a griddization management process including hazard identification, assessment and control is developed. Meanwhile, all stakeholders of construction safety management, such as owners, contractors, supervision organizations and government departments, should take the corresponding responsibilities in this process. Finally, a case study based on actual construction hazard identification, assessment and control is used to validate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed griddization management model. The advantage of this designed model is to realize information sharing and cooperative management between various safety management departments.
Abstract: The objective of this study is to uncover the basic business-forces that necessitated the survival and sustainable performance of the medium scale contractors in the South African construction market. This study is essential as it set to contribute towards long-term strategic solutions for combating the incessant failure of start-ups construction organizations within South African. The study used a qualitative research methodology; as the most appropriate approach to elicit and understand, and uncover the phenomena that are basic business-forces for the active contractors in the market. The study also adopted a phenomenological study approach; and in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 medium scale contractors in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, between months of August to October 2015. This allowed for an in-depth understanding of the critical and basic business-forces that influenced their survival and performance beyond the first five years of business operation. Findings of the study showed that for potential contractors (startups), to survival in the competitive business environment such as construction industry, they must possess the basic business-forces. These forces are educational knowledge in construction and business management related disciplines, adequate industrial experiences, competencies and capabilities to delivery excellent services and products as well as embracing the spirit of entrepreneurship. Convincingly, it can be concluded that the strategic approach to minimize the endless failure of startups construction businesses; the potential construction contractors must endeavoring to access and acquire the basic educationally knowledge, training and qualification; need to acquire industrial experiences in collaboration with required competencies, capabilities and entrepreneurship acumen. Without these basic business-forces as been discovered in this study, the majority of the contractors gaining entrance in the market will find it difficult to develop and grow a competitive and sustainable construction organization in South Africa.
Abstract: Hydrogen production from cake wastewater by anaerobic dark fermentation via upflow anaerobic staged reactor (UASR) was investigated in this study. The reactor was continuously operated for four months at constant hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 21.57 hr, PH value of 6 ± 0.6, temperature of 21.1°C, and organic loading rate of 2.43 gCOD/l.d. The hydrogen production was 5.7 l H2/d and the hydrogen yield was 134.8 ml H2 /g CODremoved. The system showed an overall removal efficiency of TCOD, TBOD, TSS, TKN, and Carbohydrates of 40 ± 13%, 59 ± 18%, 84 ± 17%, 28 ± 27%, and 85 ± 15% respectively during the long term operation period. Based on the available results, the system is not sufficient for the effective treatment of cake wastewater, and the effluent quality of UASR is not complying for discharge into sewerage network, therefore a post treatment is needed (not covered in this study).
Abstract: Water is a very rare natural resource in South Africa. Ga-Selati River is used for both domestic and industrial purposes. This study was carried out in order to assess the quality of Ga-Selati River in a mining area of Limpopo Province-Phalaborwa. The pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC) and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) were determined using a Crinson multimeter while turbidity was measured using a Labcon Turbidimeter. The concentrations of Al, Ca, Cd, Cr, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na and Pb were analysed in triplicate using a Varian 520 flame atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) supplied by PerkinElmer, after acid digestion with nitric acid in a fume cupboard. The average pH of the river from eight different sampling sites was 8.00 and 9.38 in wet and dry season respectively. Higher EC values were determined in the dry season (138.7 mS/m) than in the wet season (96.93 mS/m). Similarly, TDS values were higher in dry (929.29 mg/L) than in the wet season (640.72 mg/L) season. These values exceeded the recommended guideline of South Africa Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) for domestic water use (70 mS/m) and that of the World Health Organization (WHO) (600 mS/m), respectively. Turbidity varied between 1.78-5.20 and 0.95-2.37 NTU in both wet and dry seasons. Total hardness of 312.50 mg/L and 297.75 mg/L as the concentration of CaCO3 was computed for the river in both the wet and the dry seasons and the river water was categorised as very hard. Mean concentration of the metals studied in both the wet and the dry seasons are: Na (94.06 mg/L and 196.3 mg/L), K (11.79 mg/L and 13.62 mg/L), Ca (45.60 mg/L and 41.30 mg/L), Mg (48.41 mg/L and 44.71 mg/L), Al (0.31 mg/L and 0.38 mg/L), Cd (0.01 mg/L and 0.01 mg/L), Cr (0.02 mg/L and 0.09 mg/L), Pb (0.05 mg/L and 0.06 mg/L), Mn (0.31 mg/L and 0.11 mg/L) and Fe (0.76 mg/L and 0.69 mg/L). Results from this study reveal that most of the metals were present in concentrations higher than the recommended guidelines of DWAF and WHO for domestic use and the protection of aquatic life.
Abstract: Governments constantly seek to offer faster, more secure, efficient and effective services for their citizens. Recent changes and developments to communication services and technologies, mainly due the Internet, have led to immense improvements in the way governments of advanced countries carry out their interior operations Therefore, advances in e-government services have been broadly adopted and used in various developed countries, as well as being adapted to developing countries. The implementation of advances depends on the utilization of the most innovative structures of data techniques, mainly in web dependent applications, to enhance the main functions of governments. These functions, in turn, have spread to mobile and wireless techniques, generating a new advanced direction called m-government. This paper discusses a selection of available m-government applications and several business modules and frameworks in various fields. Practically, the m-government models, techniques and methods have become the improved version of e-government. M-government offers the potential for applications which will work better, providing citizens with services utilizing mobile communication and data models incorporating several government entities. Developing countries can benefit greatly from this innovation due to the fact that a large percentage of their population is young and can adapt to new technology and to the fact that mobile computing devices are more affordable. The use of models of mobile transactions encourages effective participation through the use of mobile portals by businesses, various organizations, and individual citizens. Although the application of m-government has great potential, it does have major limitations. The limitations include: the implementation of wireless networks and relative communications, the encouragement of mobile diffusion, the administration of complicated tasks concerning the protection of security (including the ability to offer privacy for information), and the management of the legal issues concerning mobile applications and the utilization of services.
Abstract: Hospital waste is a category of waste consisting of infectious and non-infectious waste, which pose environmental and health risks. Therefore, special planning and management is required, due to the potential hazards of them. The lack of valid and comprehensive information regarding the generation and management of hospital waste in Iran is one of the most important problems in this field. This research aimed to evaluate hospital waste management efficiency in Karaj city, Iran. The four greatest hospitals in Karaj city had been selected in this cross-sectional study. Site observations and interviews with employees were implemented. The data was gathered based on the hospital waste management questionnaire which was designed by World Health Organization for developing countries. Collected Data had been analyzed using SPSS software. The average of solid waste which was generated per bed was 2.78 kg, which included 90% of domestic waste and 10% of infectious waste. Based on the quantitative analysis of general and infectious waste in these hospitals, the highest contributors of general waste were consisting of food waste (37.39%), while textile (28.06%) were the highest contributors of the infectious waste. According to the information contained in the questionnaires, the main defects of waste management in these hospitals were; inadequate staff in waste management sector, poorly disinfection of solid waste containers and temporary storage locations, and a lack of proper infectious waste treatment. According to the results of this research, waste management in these hospitals were far from optimum conditions. In order to improve the existing conditions, mentioned problems must be solved quickly, and planning for continuous monitoring in the waste management field in these hospitals should be established.
Abstract: Environmental security clearly articulates the perfections and developments of various communities around the world irrespective of the region, culture, religion or social inclination. Although, the present state of insecurity has become serious issue devastating the peace, unity, stability and progress of man and his physical environment particularly in developing countries. Recently, measure of security and it management in Nigeria has been a bottle-neck to the effectiveness and advancement of various sectors that include; business, education, social relations, politics and above all an economy. Several measures have been considered on mitigating environment insecurity such as surveillance, demarcation, security personnel empowerment and the likes, but still the issue remains disturbing. In this paper, we present the application of new technology that contributes to the improvement of security surveillance known as “Wireless Sensor Network (WSN)”. The system is new, smart and emerging technology that provides monitoring, detection and aggregation of information using sensor nodes and wireless network. WSN detects, monitors and stores information or activities in the deployed area such as schools, environment, business centers, public squares, industries, and outskirts and transmit to end users. This will reduce the cost of security funding and eases security surveillance depending on the nature and the requirement of the deployment.
Abstract: Pure form of L-Dopa is used to enhance muscular development, fat breakdown and suppress Parkinson disease in humans. However, the L-Dopa in mucuna seed, when present with other antinutritional factors, causes nutritional disorders in monogastric animals. Information on the utilisation of pure L-Dopa in monogastric animals is scanty. Therefore, effect of L-Dopa on growth performance and carcass characteristics in broiler chickens was investigated. Two hundred and forty one-day-old chicks were allotted to six treatments, which consisted of a positive control (PC) with standard energy (3100Kcal/Kg) and negative control (NC) with high energy (3500Kcal/Kg). The rest 4 diets were NC+0.1, NC+0.2, NC+0.3 and NC+0.4% L-Dopa, respectively. All treatments had 4 replicates in a completely randomized design. Body weight gain, final weight, feed intake, dressed weight and carcass characteristics were determined. Body weight gain and final weight of birds fed PC were 1791.0 and 1830.0g, NC+0.1% L-Dopa were 1827.7 and 1866.7g and NC+0.2% L-Dopa were 1871.9 and 1910.9g respectively, and the feed intake of PC (3231.5g), were better than other treatments. The dressed weight at 1375.0g and 1357.1g of birds fed NC+0.1% and NC+0.2% L-Dopa, respectively, were similar but better than other treatments. Also, the thigh (202.5g and 194.9g) and the breast meat (413.8g and 410.8g) of birds fed NC+0.1% and NC+0.2% L-Dopa, respectively, were similar but better than birds fed other treatments. The drum stick of birds fed NC+0.1% L-Dopa (220.5g) was observed to be better than birds on other diets. Meat to bone ratio and relative organ weights were not affected across treatments. L-Dopa extract, at levels tested, had no detrimental effect on broilers, rather better bird performance and carcass characteristics were observed especially at 0.1% and 0.2% L-Dopa inclusion rates. Therefore, 0.2% inclusion is recommended in diets of broiler chickens for improved performance and carcass characteristics.
Abstract: This paper started with the definitions of literature,
Arabic literature, transformation and went further to highlight the
components of educational transformation. The general history of
Arabic literature was discussed with focus on how it undergoes some
transformations from pre-Islamic period through Quranic era,
Abbasid literature to renaissance period in which the modernization
of Arabic literature started in Egypt. It also traces the spread of
Arabic literature in Nigeria from the pre-colonial era during the
Kanuri rulers to Jihad of Usman Dan Fodio and the development of
literature which manifested to the Teacher’s Colleges and Bayero
University in Northern Nigeria. Also, the establishment of primary
and post-primary schools by Muslim organizations in many cities and
towns of the Western part of Nigeria. Literary criticism was also
discussed in line with Arabic literature. Poetry work of eminent poets
were cited to show its importance in line with educational
transformation in Nigerian literature and lessons from the cited
Arabic poetry works were also highlighted to include: motivation to
behave well and to tolerate others, better spirits of interaction, love
and co-existence among different sexes, religion etc. All these can
help in developing a better educational transformation in Nigeria
which can in turn help in how to conduct researches for national
development. The paper recommended compulsory Arabic literature
at all levels of the nations’ educational system as well as publication
of Arabic books and journals to encourage peace in this era of
conflicts and further transform Nigeria’s educational system for
better.
Abstract: Large volumes of river sediments are dredged each year in Europe in order to maintain harbour activities and prevent floods. The management of this sediment has become increasingly complex. Several European projects were implemented to find environmentally sound solutions for these materials. The main objective of this study is to show the ability of river sediment to be used in road. Since sediments contain a high amount of water, then a dehydrating treatment by addition of the flocculation aid has been used. Firstly, a lot of physical characteristics are measured and discussed for a better identification of the raw sediment and this dehydrated sediment by addition the flocculation aid. The identified parameters are, for example, the initial water content, the density, the organic matter content, the grain size distribution, the liquid limit and plastic limit and geotechnical parameters. The environmental impacts of the used material were evaluated. The results obtained show that there is a slight change on the physical-chemical and geotechnical characteristics of sediment after dehydration by the addition of polymer. However, these sediments cannot be used in road construction.
Abstract: In the knowledge-based economy, innovation is considered essential in order to achieve survival and growth in organizations. On the other hand, knowledge management is currently understood as one of the keys to innovation process. Both factors are generally admitted as generators of competitive advantage in organizations. Specifically, activities on R&D&I and those that generate internal knowledge have a positive influence in innovation results. This paper examines this effect and if it is similar or not is what we aimed to quantify in this paper. We focus on the impact that proportion of knowledge workers, the R&D&I investment, the amounts destined for ICTs and training for innovation have on the variation of tangible and intangibles returns for the sector of high and medium technology in Spain. To do this, we have performed an empirical analysis on the results of questionnaires about innovation in enterprises in Spain, collected by the National Statistics Institute. First, using clusters methodology, the behavior of these enterprises regarding knowledge management is identified. Then, using SEM methodology, we performed, for each cluster, the study about cause-effect relationships among constructs defined through variables, setting its type and quantification. The cluster analysis results in four groups in which cluster number 1 and 3 presents the best performance in innovation with differentiating nuances among them, while clusters 2 and 4 obtained divergent results to a similar innovative effort. However, the results of SEM analysis for each cluster show that, in all cases, knowledge workers are those that affect innovation performance most, regardless of the level of investment, and that there is a strong correlation between knowledge workers and investment in knowledge generation. The main findings reached is that Spanish high and medium technology companies improve their innovation performance investing in internal knowledge generation measures, specially, in terms of R&D activities, and underinvest in external ones. This, and the strong correlation between knowledge workers and the set of activities that promote the knowledge generation, should be taken into account by managers of companies, when making decisions about their investments for innovation, since they are key for improving their opportunities in the global market.
Abstract: This study aims to investigate and explore the underlying causes of security concerns of customers emerged when WHSmith transformed its physical system to virtualized business model through NetSuite. NetSuite is essentially fully integrated software which helps transforming the physical system to virtualized business model. Modern organisations are moving away from traditional business models to cloud based models and consequently it is expected to have a better, secure and innovative environment for customers. The vital issue of the modern age race is the security when transforming virtualized through cloud based models and designers of interactive systems often misunderstand privacy and even often ignore it, thus causing concerns for users. The content analysis approach is being used to collect the qualitative data from 120 online bloggers including TRUSTPILOT. The results and finding provide useful new insights into the nature and form of security concerns of online users after they have used the WHSmith services offered online through their website. Findings have theoretical as well as practical implications for the successful adoption of cloud computing Business-to-Business model and similar systems.
Abstract: This study aims to investigate the impact of data leak of M&S customers on digital communities. Modern businesses are using digital communities as an important public relations tool for marketing purposes. This form of communication helps companies to build better relationship with their customers which also act as another source of information. The communication between the customers and the organizations is not regulated so users may post positive and negative comments. There are new platforms being developed on a daily basis and it is very crucial for the businesses to not only get themselves familiar with those but also know how to reach their existing and perspective consumers. The driving force of marketing and communication in modern businesses is the digital communities and these are continuously increasing and developing. This phenomenon is changing the way marketing is conducted. The current research has discussed the implications on M&S business performance since the data was exploited on digital communities; users contacted M&S and raised the security concerns. M&S closed down its website for few hours to try to resolve the issue. The next day M&S made a public apology about this incidence. This information was proliferated on various digital communities and it has impacted negatively on M&S brand name, sales and customers. The content analysis approach is being used to collect qualitative data from 100 digital bloggers including social media communities such as Facebook and Twitter. The results and finding provide useful new insights into the nature and form of security concerns of digital users. Findings have theoretical and practical implications. This research will showcase a large corporation utilizing various digital community platforms and can serve as a model for future organizations.
Abstract: This study examined the digital preservation in
Nigeria university libraries. A comparison between the university of
Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) and Ahmadu Bello University Zaria (ABU,
Zaria). The study utilized primary source of data obtained from two
selected institution librarians. Finding revealed varying results in
terms of skills acquired by librarians before and after digitization of
the two institutions. The study reports that journals publication, text
book, CD-ROMS, conference papers and proceedings, theses,
dissertations and seminar papers are among the information resources
available for digitization. The study further documents that copyright
issue, power failure, and unavailability of needed materials are
among the challenges facing the digitization of library of the
institution. On the basis of the finding, the study concluded that
digitization of library enhances efficiency in organization and
retrieval of information services. The study therefore recommended
that software should be upgraded with backup, training of the
librarians on digital process, installation of antivirus and
enhancement of technical collaboration between the library and MIS.