Abstract: In this study, we develop a performance evaluation
model based on a multi-attribute utility approach aiming at reaching
the sustainable banking (SB) status. This model is built accounting
for various banks’ stakeholders in a win-win paradigm. In addition, it
offers the opportunity for adopting a global measure of performance
as an indication of a bank’s sustainability degree. This measure is
referred to as banking sustainability performance index (BSPI). This
index may constitute a basis for ranking banks. Moreover, it may
constitute a bridge between the assessment types of financial and
extra-financial rating agencies. A real application is performed on
three French banks.
Abstract: In order to verify the performance of lunar lander
structure, landing-impact test is urgently needed. And the test
equipment is necessary for the test. The functions and the key points of
the equipment are presented to satisfy the requirements of the test, and
the design scheme is proposed. The composition, the major function
and the critical parts’ design of the equipment are introduced. By the
load test of releasing device and single-beam hoist, and the
compatibility test of landing-impact testing system, the rationality and
reliability of the equipment is proved.
Abstract: The goal of this article is the analysis of knowledge
transfer at the regional level of the Czech Republic. We show how
goals of enterprises´ innovative activities are related to the rate of
cooperation with different actors within regional innovative systems
as well as in other world regions. The results show that the most
important partners of enterprises are their suppliers and clients in
most Czech regions. The cooperation rate of enterprises correlates
significantly mainly with enterprises´ efforts to enter new markets
and reduce labour costs per unit output. The meaning of this
cooperation decreases with the increase of partner’s distance.
Regarding the type of a cooperating partner, cooperation within an
enterprise had to do with the increase of market share and decrease of
labour costs. On the other hand, cooperation with clients had to do
with efforts to replace outdated products or processes or enter new
markets. We can pay less attention to the cooperation with
government authorities and organizations. The reasons for
marginalization of this cooperation should be submitted to further
detailed investigation.
Abstract: Urban greenery remains the bastion of urban
landscape and a key to sustainable development due to its integral
connections to the general health and wellbeing of urban residents.
However, in an era of rapid urbanisation, recent studies indicate that
urban greenery, especially ecologically sensitive areas, in many
African cities is becoming increasingly depleted. Given the scale and
rate of natural and anthropogenic change, effective management of
urban greenery as the ultimate goal of restoring depleting urban
landscapes is urgent. This review advocates for an urban resilience
model to managing urban greenery.
Abstract: Different strategies and tools are available at the oil
and gas industry for detecting and analyzing tension and possible
fractures in borehole walls. Most of these techniques are based on
manual observation of the captured borehole images. While this
strategy may be possible and convenient with small images and few
data, it may become difficult and suitable to errors when big
databases of images must be treated. While the patterns may differ
among the image area, depending on many characteristics (drilling
strategy, rock components, rock strength, etc.). In this work we
propose the inclusion of data-mining classification strategies in order
to create a knowledge database of the segmented curves. These
classifiers allow that, after some time using and manually pointing
parts of borehole images that correspond to tension regions and
breakout areas, the system will indicate and suggest automatically
new candidate regions, with higher accuracy. We suggest the use of
different classifiers methods, in order to achieve different knowledge
dataset configurations.
Abstract: This paper is devoted to the study of a viscous
incompressible flow around a circular cylinder performing harmonic
oscillations, especially the steady streaming phenomenon. The
research methodology is based on the asymptotic explanation method
combined with the computational bifurcation analysis. The research
approach develops Schlichting and Wang decomposition method.
Present studies allow to identify several regimes of the secondary
streaming with different flow structures. The results of the research
are in good agreement with experimental and numerical simulation
data.
Abstract: The main aim of this research was to investigate the
perspectives of English language teachers and learners on the effect
of test techniques on reading comprehension, test performance and
assessment. The research has also aimed at finding the differences
between teacher and learner perspectives, specifying the test
techniques which have the highest effect, investigating the other
factors affecting reading comprehension, and comparing the results
with the similar studies. In order to achieve these objectives,
perspectives and findings of different researchers were reviewed, two
different questionnaires were prepared to collect data for the
perspectives of teachers and learners, the questionnaires were applied
to 26 learners and 8 teachers from the University of Batna (Algeria),
and quantitative and qualitative data analysis of the results were
done. The results and analysis of the results show that different test
techniques affect reading comprehension, test performance and
assessment at different percentages rates.
Abstract: The systematic evaluation of manufacturing
technologies with regard to the potential for product designing
constitutes a major challenge. Until now, conventional evaluation
methods primarily consider the costs of manufacturing technologies.
Thus, the potential of manufacturing technologies for achieving
additional product design features is not completely captured. To
compensate this deficit, final evaluations of new technologies are
mainly intuitive in practice. Therefore, an additional evaluation
dimension is needed which takes the potential of manufacturing
technologies for specific realizable product designs into account. In
this paper, we present the approach of an evaluation method for
selecting manufacturing technologies with regard to their potential
for product designing. This research is done within the Fraunhofer
innovation cluster »AdaM« (Adaptive Manufacturing) which targets
the development of resource efficient and adaptive manufacturing
technology processes for complex turbomachinery components.
Abstract: The use of IT equipment has become a part of every
day. However, each device that is part of cyberspace should be
secured against unauthorized use. It is very important to know the
basics of these security devices, but also the basics of safe conduct
their owners. This information should be part of every curriculum
computer science education in primary and secondary schools.
Therefore, the work focuses on the education of pupils in primary and
secondary schools on the Internet. Analysis of the current state
describes approaches to the education of pupils in security issues on
the Internet. The paper presents a questionnaire-based survey which
was carried out in the Czech Republic, whose task was to ascertain
the level of opinion pupils in primary and secondary schools on the
issue of communication in social networks. The research showed that
awareness of socio-pathological phenomena on the Internet
environment is very low. Based on the results it was proposed
appropriate ways of teaching to this issue and its inclusion a proposal
of curriculum for primary and secondary schools.
Abstract: The paper is focused on the methods to solutions of
the crisis situation in the Czech Republic associated with the mass
methanol poisoning. The emphasis is put on tasks of individual state
bodies and of Integrated Rescue System during the handling of the
crisis.
The theoretical part describes poisonings, ways of intoxication,
types of intoxicants and cases of mass poisoning by dangerous
substances in the world.
The practical part describes the development, causes and solutions
of extraordinary event, mass methanol poisoning in the Czech
Republic. The main emphasis was put on the crisis management of
the Czech Republic in solving this situation.
Abstract: Communication and effective information exchange
within technology has become a crucial part of delivering knowledge
to students during the learning process. It enables better
understanding, builds trust and respect, and increases the sharing of
knowledge between students. This paper examines the
communication between undergraduate students and their lecturers
during the traditional lecture and when using the Interactive
Electronic Lecture System (IELS). The IELS is an application that
offers a set of components which support the effective
communication between students and their peers and between
students and their lecturers. Moreover, this paper highlights
communication skills such as sender, receiver, channel and feedback.
It will show how the IELS creates a rich communication environment
between its users and how they communicate effectively. To examine
and assess the effectiveness of communication, an experiment was
conducted on groups of users; students and lecturers. The first group
communicated in the traditional lecture while the second group
communicated by means of the IELS application. The results show
that there was more effective communication between the second
group than the first.
Abstract: Health analytics (HA) is used in healthcare systems
for effective decision making, management and planning of
healthcare and related activities. However, user resistances, unique
position of medical data content and structure (including
heterogeneous and unstructured data) and impromptu HA projects
have held up the progress in HA applications. Notably, the accuracy
of outcomes depends on the skills and the domain knowledge of the
data analyst working on the healthcare data. Success of HA depends
on having a sound process model, effective project management and
availability of supporting tools. Thus, to overcome these challenges
through an effective process model, we propose a HA process model
with features from rational unified process (RUP) model and agile
methodology.
Abstract: This paper is concerning the issues of behaviour of
lightweight expanded clay aggregates concrete exposed to high
temperature. Lightweight aggregates from expanded clay are
produced by firing of row material up to temperature 1050°C.
Lightweight aggregates have suitable properties in terms of volume
stability, when exposed to temperatures up to 1050°C, which could
indicate their suitability for construction applications with higher risk
of fire. The test samples were exposed to heat by using the standard
temperature-time curve ISO 834. Negative changes in resulting
mechanical properties, such as compressive strength, tensile strength,
and flexural strength were evaluated. Also visual evaluation of the
specimen was performed. On specimen exposed to excessive heat, an
explosive spalling could be observed, due to evaporation of
considerable amount of unbounded water from the inner structure of
the concrete.
Abstract: Characterization of the engineering behavior of
unsaturated soil is dependent on the soil-water characteristic curve
(SWCC), a graphical representation of the relationship between water
content or degree of saturation and soil suction. A reasonable
description of the SWCC is thus important for the accurate prediction
of unsaturated soil parameters. The measurement procedures for
determining the SWCC, however, are difficult, expensive, and timeconsuming.
During the past few decades, researchers have laid a
major focus on developing empirical equations for predicting the
SWCC, with a large number of empirical models suggested. One of
the most crucial questions is how precisely existing equations can
represent the SWCC. As different models have different ranges of
capability, it is essential to evaluate the precision of the SWCC
models used for each particular soil type for better SWCC estimation.
It is expected that better estimation of SWCC would be achieved via
a thorough statistical analysis of its distribution within a particular
soil class. With this in view, a statistical analysis was conducted in
order to evaluate the reliability of the SWCC prediction models
against laboratory measurement. Optimization techniques were used
to obtain the best-fit of the model parameters in four forms of SWCC
equation, using laboratory data for relatively coarse-textured (i.e.,
sandy) soil. The four most prominent SWCCs were evaluated and
computed for each sample. The result shows that the Brooks and
Corey model is the most consistent in describing the SWCC for sand
soil type. The Brooks and Corey model prediction also exhibit
compatibility with samples ranging from low to high soil water
content in which subjected to the samples that evaluated in this study.
Abstract: Web-based Cognitive Writing Instruction (WeCWI) is
a hybrid e-framework for the development of a web-based instruction
(WBI), which contributes towards instructional design and language
development. WeCWI divides its contribution in instructional design
into macro and micro perspectives. In macro perspective, being a 21st
century educator by disseminating knowledge and sharing ideas with
the in-class and global learners is initiated. By leveraging the virtue
of technology, WeCWI aims to transform an educator into an
aggregator, curator, publisher, social networker and ultimately, a
web-based instructor. Since the most notable contribution of
integrating technology is being a tool of teaching as well as a
stimulus for learning, WeCWI focuses on the use of contemporary
web tools based on the multiple roles played by the 21st century
educator. The micro perspective in instructional design draws
attention to the pedagogical approaches focusing on three main
aspects: reading, discussion, and writing. With the effective use of
pedagogical approaches through free reading and enterprises,
technology adds new dimensions and expands the boundaries of
learning capacity. Lastly, WeCWI also imparts the fundamental
theories and models for web-based instructors’ awareness such as
interactionist theory, cognitive information processing (CIP) theory,
computer-mediated communication (CMC), e-learning interactionalbased
model, inquiry models, sensory mind model, and leaning styles
model.
Abstract: This study has been presented which is a detailed
work of seismic microzonation of the city center. For seismic
microzonation area of 225 km2 has been selected as the study area.
MASW (Multichannel analysis of surface wave) and seismic
refraction methods have been used to generate one-dimensional shear
wave velocity profile at 250 locations and two-dimensional profile at
60 locations. These shear wave velocities are used to estimate
equivalent shear wave velocity in the study area at every 2 and 5 m
intervals up to a depth of 60 m. Levels of equivalent shear wave
velocity of soil are used the classified of the study area. After the
results of the study, it must be considered as components of urban
planning and building design of Denizli and the application and use
of these results should be required and enforced by municipal
authorities.
Abstract: The present study debates students’ perceptions of the
use of technology in learning English as a Foreign Language. Its aim
is to explore and understand students’ preparation and presentation of
Posters, PowerPoint and Animated Videos by drawing attention to
visual and oral elements. The data is collected through observations
and semi-structured interviews and analyzed through
phenomenological data analysis steps. The themes emerged from the
data, visual learning satisfaction in using information and
communication technology, providing structure to oral presentation,
learning from peers’ presentations, draw attention to using Posters,
PowerPoint and Animated Videos as each supports visual learning
and organization of thoughts in oral presentations.
Abstract: In this paper, we present a comparative assessment of
Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation (SVPWM) and Model
Predictive Control (MPC) for two-level three phase (2L-3P) Voltage
Source Inverter (VSI). VSI with associated system is subjected to
both control techniques and the results are compared.
Matlab/Simulink was used to model, simulate and validate the
control schemes. Findings of this study show that MPC is superior to
SVPWM in terms of total harmonic distortion (THD) and
implementation.
Abstract: This paper involved the performance of a hightemperature
X-Ray powder diffraction analysis (XRD) of a sample of
chemical gypsum generated in the production of titanium white; this
gypsum originates by neutralizing highly acidic water with limestone
suspension. Specifically, it was gypsum formed in the first stage of
neutralization when the resulting material contains, apart from
gypsum, a number of waste products resulting from the
decomposition of ilmenite by sulphuric acid. So it can be described as
red titanogypsum. By conducting the experiment using XRD
apparatus Bruker D8 Advance with a Cu anode (λkα=1.54184 Å)
equipped with high-temperature chamber Anton Paar HTK 16, it was
possible to identify clearly in the sample each phase transition in the
system of CaSO4·xH2O.