Abstract: Response surface methodology (RSM) is a very
efficient tool to provide a good practical insight into developing new
process and optimizing them. This methodology could help
engineers to raise a mathematical model to represent the behavior of
system as a convincing function of process parameters.
Through this paper the sequential nature of the RSM surveyed for process
engineers and its relationship to design of experiments (DOE), regression
analysis and robust design reviewed. The proposed four-step procedure in
two different phases could help system analyst to resolve the parameter
design problem involving responses. In order to check accuracy of the
designed model, residual analysis and prediction error sum of squares
(PRESS) described.
It is believed that the proposed procedure in this study can resolve a
complex parameter design problem with one or more responses. It can be
applied to those areas where there are large data sets and a number of
responses are to be optimized simultaneously. In addition, the proposed
procedure is relatively simple and can be implemented easily by using
ready-made standard statistical packages.
Abstract: This research aimed to study the competency of health
and wellness hotels and resorts in developing use the local natural
resources and wisdom to conform to the national health and wellness
tourism (HWT) strategy by comparing two independent samples,
from Aumpur Muang, Ranong province and Aumpur Muang,
Chiangmai province. And also study in the suggestive direct path to
lead the organization to the sustainable successful.
This research was conduct by using mix methodology; both
quantitative and qualitative data were used. The data of competency
of health and wellness hotels and resorts (HWHR) in developing use
the local natural resources for HWT promoting were collected via
300 set of questionnaires, from 6 hotels and resorts in 2 areas, 3
places from Aumpur Muang, Ranong province and another 3 from
Aumpur Muang, Chiangmai province.
Thestudy of HWHR’s competency in developing use the local
natural resources and wisdom to conform to the national HWT
strategycan be divided into fourmain areas, food and beverages
service, tourism activity, environmental service, and value adding.
The total competency of the Chiangmai sample is importantly
scoredp. value 0.01 higher than the Ranong one while the area of
safety, Chiangmai’s competency is importantly scored 0.05 higher
than the Ranong’scompetency. Others were rated not differently.
Since Chiangmai perform better, then it can be a role model in
developing HTHR or HWT destination.
From the part of qualitative research, content analysis of business
contents and its environments were analyzed. The four stages of
strategic development and plans, from the smallest scale to the largest
scale such a national base were discussed. The HWT: Evolution
model and strategy for lodging Business were suggested. All those
stages must work harmoniously together. The distinctive result
illustrates the need of human resource development as the key point
to create the identity of Thainess on Health and wellness service
providing. This will add-on the value of services and differentiates
ourselves from other competitors. The creative of Thailand’s health
and wellness brand possibly increase loyalty customers which agreed
to be a path of sustainable development.
Abstract: Object Relational Databases (ORDB) are complex in
nature than traditional relational databases because they combine the
characteristics of both object oriented concepts and relational
features of conventional databases. Design of an ORDB demands
efficient and quality schema considering the structural, functional
and componential traits. This internal quality of the schema is
assured by metrics that measure the relevant attributes. This is
extended to substantiate the understandability, usability and
reliability of the schema, thus assuring external quality of the
schema. This work institutes a formalization of ORDB metrics;
metric definition, evaluation methodology and the calibration of the
metric. Three ORDB schemas were used to conduct the evaluation
and the formalization of the metrics. The metrics are calibrated using
content and criteria related validity based on the measurability,
consistency and reliability of the metrics. Nominal and summative
scales are derived based on the evaluated metric values and are
standardized. Future works pertaining to ORDB metrics forms the
concluding note.
Abstract: In recent years, rehabilitation has been the subject of extensive research due to increased spending on building work and repair of built works. In all cases, it is absolutely essential to carry out methods of strengthening or repair of structural elements, and that following an inspection analysis and methodology of a correct diagnosis. The reinforced concrete columns are important elements in building structures. They support the vertical loads and provide bracing against the horizontal loads. This research about the behavior of reinforced concrete rectangular columns, rehabilitated by concrete liner, confinement FRP fabric, steel liner or cage formed by metal corners. It allows comparing the contributions of different processes used perspective section resistance elements rehabilitated compared to that is not reinforced or repaired. The different results obtained revealed a considerable gain in bearing capacity failure of reinforced sections cladding concrete, metal bracket, steel plates and a slight improvement to the section reinforced with fabric FRP. The use of FRP does not affect the weight of the structures, but the use of different techniques cladding increases the weight of elements rehabilitated and therefore the weight of the building which requires resizing foundations.
Abstract: Optimization of extraction of phenolic compounds
from Avicennia marina using response surface methodology was
carried out during the present study. Five levels, three factors
rotatable design (CCRD) was utilized to examine the optimum
combination of extraction variables based on the TPC of Avicennia
marina leaves. The best combination of response function was 78.41
°C, drying temperature; 26.18°C; extraction temperature and 36.53
minutes of extraction time. However, the procedure can be promptly
extended to the study of several others pharmaceutical processes like
purification of bioactive substances, drying of extracts and
development of the pharmaceutical dosage forms for the benefit of
consumers.
Abstract: Modern applications realized onto FPGAs exhibit high connectivity demands. Throughout this paper we study the routing constraints of Virtex devices and we propose a systematic methodology for designing a novel general-purpose interconnection network targeting to reconfigurable architectures. This network consists of multiple segment wires and SB patterns, appropriately selected and assigned across the device. The goal of our proposed methodology is to maximize the hardware utilization of fabricated routing resources. The derived interconnection scheme is integrated on a Virtex style FPGA. This device is characterized both for its high-performance, as well as for its low-energy requirements. Due to this, the design criterion that guides our architecture selections was the minimal Energy×Delay Product (EDP). The methodology is fully-supported by three new software tools, which belong to MEANDER Design Framework. Using a typical set of MCNC benchmarks, extensive comparison study in terms of several critical parameters proves the effectiveness of the derived interconnection network. More specifically, we achieve average Energy×Delay Product reduction by 63%, performance increase by 26%, reduction in leakage power by 21%, reduction in total energy consumption by 11%, at the expense of increase of channel width by 20%.
Abstract: Extracting and elaborating software requirements and
transforming them into viable software architecture are still an
intricate task. This paper defines a solution architecture which is
based on the blurred amalgamation of problem space and solution
space. The dependencies between domain constraints, requirements
and architecture and their importance are described that are to be
considered collectively while evolving from problem space to
solution space. This paper proposes a revised version of Twin Peaks
Model named Win Peaks Model that reconciles software
requirements and architecture in more consistent and adaptable
manner. Further the conflict between stakeholders- win-requirements
is resolved by proposed Voting methodology that is simple
adaptation of win-win requirements negotiation model and QARCC.
Abstract: Faced with social and health system capacity
constraints and rising and changing demand for welfare services,
governments and welfare providers are increasingly relying on
innovation to help support and enhance services. However, the
evidence reported by several studies indicates that the realization of
that potential is not an easy task. Innovations can be deemed
inherently complex to implement and operate, because many of them
involve a combination of technological and organizational renewal
within an environment featuring a diversity of stakeholders. Many
public welfare service innovations are markedly systemic in their
nature, which means that they emerge from, and must address, the
complex interplay between political, administrative, technological,
institutional and legal issues. This paper suggests that stakeholders
dealing with systemic innovation in welfare services must deal with
ambiguous and incomplete information in circumstances of
uncertainty. Employing a literature review methodology and case
study, this paper identifies, categorizes and discusses different
aspects of the uncertainty of systemic innovation in public welfare
services, and argues that uncertainty can be classified into eight
categories: technological uncertainty, market uncertainty,
regulatory/institutional uncertainty, social/political uncertainty,
acceptance/legitimacy uncertainty, managerial uncertainty, timing
uncertainty and consequence uncertainty.
Abstract: In this paper we have proposed a methodology to
develop an amperometric biosensor for the analysis of glucose
concentration using a simple microcontroller based data acquisition
system. The work involves the development of Detachable
Membrane Unit (enzyme based biomembrane) with immobilized
glucose oxidase on the membrane and interfacing the same to the
signal conditioning system. The current generated by the biosensor
for different glucose concentrations was signal conditioned, then
acquired and computed by a simple AT89C51-microcontroller. The
optimum operating parameters for the better performance were found
and reported. The detailed performance evaluation of the biosensor
has been carried out. The proposed microcontroller based biosensor
system has the sensitivity of 0.04V/g/dl, with a resolution of
50mg/dl. It has exhibited very good inter day stability observed up to
30 days. Comparing to the reference method such as HPLC, the
accuracy of the proposed biosensor system is well within ± 1.5%.
The system can be used for real time analysis of glucose
concentration in the field such as, food and fermentation and clinical
(In-Vitro) applications.
Abstract: In highly competitive environments, a growing
number of companies must regularly launch new products speedily
and successfully. A company-s success is based on the systematic,
conscious product designing method which meets the market
requirements and takes risks as well as resources into consideration.
Research has found that developing and launching new products are
inherently risky endeavors. Hence in this research, we aim at
introducing a risk evaluation framework for the new product
innovation process. Our framework is based on the fuzzy analytical
hierarchy process (FAHP) methodology. We have applied all the
stages of the framework on the risk evaluation process of a
pharmaceuticals company.
Abstract: Nowadays, the plant location selection has a critical
impact on the performance of numerous companies. In this paper, a
methodology is presented to solve this problem. The three decision
making methods, namely Delphi, AHP and improved VIKOR, are
hybridized in order to make the best use of information available
based on the decision makers or experts. In this respect, the aim of
using Delphi is to select the most influential criteria by a few decision
makers. The AHP is utilized to give weights of the selected criteria.
Finally, the improved VIKOR method is applied to rank alternatives.
At the end of paper, an application example demonstrates the
applicability of the proposed methodology.
Abstract: In this work the numerical simulation of transient heat
transfer in a cylindrical probe is done. An experiment was conducted
introducing a steel cylinder in a heating chamber and registering its
surface temperature along the time during one hour. In parallel, a
mathematical model was solved for one dimension transient heat
transfer in cylindrical coordinates, considering the boundary
conditions of the test. The model was solved using finite difference
method, because the thermal conductivity in the cylindrical steel bar
and the convection heat transfer coefficient used in the model are
considered temperature dependant functions, and both conditions
prevent the use of the analytical solution. The comparison between
theoretical and experimental results showed the average deviation is
below 2%. It was concluded that numerical methods are useful in
order to solve engineering complex problems. For constant k and h,
the experimental methodology used here can be used as a tool for
teaching heat transfer in mechanical engineering, using mathematical
simplified models with analytical solutions.
Abstract: The objective is to split a simply connected polygon
into a set of convex quadrilaterals without inserting new
boundary nodes. The presented approach consists in repeatedly
removing quadrilaterals from the polygon. Theoretical results
pertaining to quadrangulation of simply connected polygons are
derived from the usual 2-ear theorem. It produces a quadrangulation
technique with O(n) number of quadrilaterals. The
theoretical methodology is supplemented by practical results
and CAD surface segmentation.
Abstract: The interrelationship between international stock
markets has been a key study area among the financial market
researchers for international portfolio management and risk
measurement. The characteristics of security returns and their
dynamics play a vital role in the financial market theory. This study
is an attempt to find out the dynamic linkages among the equity
market of USA and emerging markets of Pakistan and India using
daily data covering the period of January 2003–December 2009. The
study utilizes Johansen (Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control,
12, 1988) and Johansen and Juselius (Oxford Bulletin of Economics
and Statistics, 52, 1990) cointegration procedure for long run
relationship and Granger-causality tests based on Toda and
Yamamoto (Journal of Econometrics, 66, 1995) methodology.
No cointegration was found among stock markets of USA, Pakistan
and India, while Granger-causality test showed the evidence of
unidirectional causality running from New York stock exchange to
Bombay and Karachi stock exchanges.
Abstract: Heuristics-based search methodologies normally
work on searching a problem space of possible solutions toward
finding a “satisfactory" solution based on “hints" estimated from the
problem-specific knowledge. Research communities use different
types of methodologies. Unfortunately, most of the times, these hints
are immature and can lead toward hindering these methodologies by
a premature convergence. This is due to a decrease of diversity in
search space that leads to a total implosion and ultimately fitness
stagnation of the population. In this paper, a novel Decision Maturity
framework (DMF) is introduced as a solution to this problem. The
framework simply improves the decision on the direction of the
search by materializing hints enough before using them. Ideas from
this framework are injected into the particle swarm optimization
methodology. Results were obtained under both static and dynamic
environment. The results show that decision maturity prevents
premature converges to a high degree.
Abstract: Extraction of lactic acid by emulsion liquid membrane technology (ELM) using n-trioctyl amine (TOA) in n-heptane as carrier within the organic membrane along with sodium carbonate as acceptor phase was optimized by using response surface methodology (RSM). A three level Box-Behnken design was employed for experimental design, analysis of the results and to depict the combined effect of five independent variables, vizlactic acid concentration in aqueous phase (cl), sodium carbonate concentration in stripping phase (cs), carrier concentration in membrane phase (ψ), treat ratio, and batch extraction time (τ)
with equal volume of organic and external aqueous phase on lactic acid extraction efficiency. The maximum lactic acid extraction efficiency (ηext) of 98.21%from aqueous phase in a batch reactor using ELM was found at the optimized values for test variables, cl, cs, ψ, and τ as 0.06 [M], 0.18 [M], 4.72 (%,v/v), 1.98 (v/v) and 13.36 min respectively.
Abstract: Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a procedure tool of environmental management for identifying, predicting, evaluating and mitigating the adverse effects of development proposals. EIA reports usually analyze how the amounts or concentrations of pollutants obey the relevant standards. Actually, many analytical tools can deepen the analysis of environmental impacts in EIA reports, such as life cycle assessment (LCA) and environmental risk assessment (ERA). Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) is one of steps in LCA to introduce the causal relationships among environmental hazards and damage. Incorporating the LCIA concept into ERA as an integrated tool for EIA can extend the focus of the regulatory compliance of environmental impacts to determine of the significance of environmental impacts. Sometimes, when using integrated tools, it is necessary to consider fuzzy situations due to insufficient information; therefore, ERA should be generalized to fuzzy risk assessment (FRA). Finally, the use of the proposed methodology is demonstrated through the study case of the expansion plan of the world-s largest plastics processing factory.
Abstract: Islam has a general principle of increase in
population. But the Muslims are equally obliged to take care of
health, education and the provisions etc. for their offspring and wives
in the best possible way. The Muslims would have to regulate and
manage the number of children, if any situation affects their duties
regarding their wives or children. Islam accomplishes permissibility
of temporary blockade in human fertility if someone faces any
problem regarding health of mother or children. During the life of the
Holy Prophet (SAW), Azl (coitus interruptus) was the only way for
temporary spacing between the children. In technologically
developed environment, the same can be resort through some
advanced methodology or instrument of temporary blockade. Solid
grounds are available in Islam that the fertility rate should be
managed if any of the aspect of human quality is being affected.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview on methodological aspects of the information technology outsourcing (ITO) surveys, in an attempt to improve the data quality and reporting in survey research. It is based on a review of thirty articles on ITO surveys and focuses on two commonly explored dimensions of ITO, namely what are outsourced and why should there be ITO. This study highlights weaknesses in ITO surveys including lack of a clear definition of population, lack of information regarding the sampling method used, not citing the response rate, no information pertaining to pilot testing of survey instrument and absence of information on internal validity in the use or reporting of surveys. This study represents an attempt with a limited scope to point to shortfalls in the use survey methodology in ITO, and thus raise awareness among researchers in enhancing the reliability of survey findings.
Abstract: Ethanol has been known for a long time, being
perhaps the oldest product obtained through traditional biotechnology
fermentation. Agriculture waste as substrate in fermentation is vastly
discussed as alternative to replace edible food and utilization of
organic material. Pineapple peel, highly potential source as substrate
is a by-product of the pineapple processing industry. Bio-ethanol
from pineapple (Ananas comosus) peel extract was carried out by
controlling fermentation without any treatment. Saccharomyces
ellipsoides was used as inoculum in this fermentation process as it is
naturally found at the pineapple skin. In this study, the capability of
Response Surface Methodology (RSM) for optimization of ethanol
production from pineapple peel extract using Saccharomyces
ellipsoideus in batch fermentation process was investigated. Effect of
five test variables in a defined range of inoculum concentration 6-
14% (v/v), pH (4.0-6.0), sugar concentration (14-22°Brix),
temperature (24-32°C) and time of incubation (30-54 hrs) on the
ethanol production were evaluated. Data obtained from experiment
were analyzed with RSM of MINITAB Software (Version 15)
whereby optimum ethanol concentration of 8.637% (v/v) was
determined. The optimum condition of 14% (v/v) inoculum
concentration, pH 6, 22°Brix, 26°C and 30hours of incubation. The
significant regression equation or model at the 5% level with
correlation value of 99.96% was also obtained.