Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to highlight the
importance of the concept of competitiveness in the supply chain and
to present a conceptual framework for Supply Chain Competitiveness
(SCC). The framework is based on supply chain activities, which are
inputs, necessary for SCC and the benefits which are the outputs of
SCC. A literature review is conducted on key supply chain
competitiveness issues, its determinants, its various dimensions
followed by exploration for SCC. Based on the insights gained, a
conceptual framework for SCC is presented based on activities for
SCC, SCC environment and outcomes of SCC. The information flow
in the conceptual framework is bi-directional at all levels and the
activities are interrelated in a global competitive environment. The
activities include the activities of suppliers, manufacturers and
distributors, giving more emphasis on manufacturers- activities.
Further, implications of various factors such as economic, politicolegal,
technical, socio-cultural, competition, demographic etc. are
also highlighted. The SCC framework is an attempt to cover the
relatively less explored area of supply chain competitiveness. It is
expected that this work will further motivate researchers,
academicians and practitioners to work in this area and offers
conceptual help in providing a directions for supply chain
competitiveness which leads to improvement in the supply chain and
supply chain performance.
Abstract: This paper investigates the nature of the development
of two-dimensional laminar flow of an incompressible fluid at the
reversed stagnation-point. ". In this study, we revisit the problem
of reversed stagnation-point flow over a flat plate. Proudman and
Johnson (1962) first studied the flow and obtained an asymptotic
solution by neglecting the viscous terms. This is no true in neglecting
the viscous terms within the total flow field. In particular it is pointed
out that for a plate impulsively accelerated from rest to a constant
velocity V0 that a similarity solution to the self-similar ODE is
obtained which is noteworthy completely analytical.
Abstract: Five vegetables (spinach, lettuce, cabbage, tomato, and onion) were freshly harvested from the Alau Dam and Gongulong agricultural areas for the determination of some organochlorine pesticide residues (o, p-DDE, p,p’-DDD, o,p’-DDD, p,p’-DDT, α-BHC, γ-BHC, metoxichlor, lindane, endosulfan dieldrin, and aldrin.) Soil samples were also collected at different depths for the determination of the above pesticides. Samples collection and preparation were conducted using standard procedures. The concentrations of all the pesticides in the soil and vegetable samples were determined using GC/MS SHIMADZU (GC-17A) equipped with electron capture detector (ECD). The highest concentration was that of p,p’-DDD (132.4±13.45µg/g) which was observed in the leaf of cabbage, while the lowest concentration was that of p,p’-DDT (2.34µg/g) was observed in the root of spinach. Similar trends were observed at the Gongulong agricultural area, with p,p’-DDD having the highest concentration of 153.23µg/g in the leaf of cabbage, while the lowest concentration was that of p,p’-DDT (12.45µg/g) which was observed in the root of spinach. α-BHC, γ-BHC, Methoxychlor, and lindane were detected in all the vegetable samples studied. The concentrations of all the pesticides in the soil samples were observed to be higher at a depth of 21-30cm, while the lowest concentrations were observed at a depth of 0-10cm. The concentrations of all the pesticides in the vegetables and soil samples from the two agricultural sites were observed to be at alarming levels, much higher than the maximum residue limits (MRLs) and acceptable daily intake values (ADIs) .The levels of the pesticides observed in the vegetables and soil samples investigated, are of such a magnitude that calls for special attention and laws to regulate the use and circulation of such chemicals. Routine monitoring of pesticide residues in these study areas is necessary for the prevention, control and reduction of environmental pollution, so as to minimize health risks.
Abstract: Although there are many theories and discussion of leadership, the necessity of having a new leadership paradigm was emphasized. The existing leadership characteristic of instruction and control revealed its limitations. Market competition becomes fierce and economic recession never ends worldwide. Of the leadership theories, servant leadership was introduced recently and is in line with the environmental changes of the organization. Servant leadership is a combination of two words, 'servant' and 'leader' and can be defined as the role of the leader who focuses on doing voluntary work for others with altruistic ethics, makes members, customers, and local communities a priority, and makes a commitment to satisfying their needs. This leadership received attention as one field of leadership in the late 1990s and secured its legitimacy. This study discusses the existing research trends of leadership, the concept, behavior characteristics, and lower dimensions of servant leadership, compares servant leadership with the existing leadership researches and diagnoses if servant leadership is a useful concept for further leadership researches. Finally, this study criticizes the limitations in the existing researches on servant leadership.
Abstract: Three dimensional analysis of thermal model in laser
full penetration welding, Nd:YAG, by transparent mode DP600 alloy
steel 1.25mm of thickness and gap of 0.1mm. Three models studied
the influence of thermal dependent temperature properties, thermal
independent temperature and the effect of peak value of specific heat
at phase transformation temperature, AC1, on the transient
temperature. Another seven models studied the influence of
discretization, meshes on the temperature distribution in weld plate.
It is shown that for the effects of thermal properties, the errors less
4% of maximum temperature in FZ and HAZ have identified. The
minimum value of discretization are at least one third increment per
radius for temporal discretization and the spatial discretization
requires two elements per radius and four elements through thickness
of the assembled plate, which therefore represent the minimum
requirements of modeling for the laser welding in order to get
minimum errors less than 5% compared to the fine mesh.
Abstract: The subject of the paper is comparative analysis of the hotel guest-s contractual liability for breaching the obligation for non-payment of hotel services in the hotel-keeper-s contract. The paper is methodologically conceived of six chapters (1. introduction, 2. comparative law sources of the hotel-keeper-s contract, 3. the guest-s obligation for payment of hotel services, 4. hotel guest's liability for non-payment, 5. the hotel-keeper-s rights due to nonpayment and 6. conclusion), which analyzes the guest-s liability for non-payment of hotel services through the international law, European law, euro-continental national laws (France, Germany, Italy, Croatia) and Anglo-American national laws (UK, USA). The paper-s results are the synthesis of answers to the set hypothesis and comparative review of hotel guest-s contractual liability for nonpayment of hotel services provided. In conclusion, it is necessary to adopt an international convention on the hotel-keeper-s contract, which would unify the institute of the hotel guest-s contractual liability for non-payment of hotel services at the international level.
Abstract: The technique of inducing micro ecosystem
restoration is one of aquatic ecology engineering methods used to
retrieve the polluted water. Batch scale study, pilot plant study, and
field study were carried out to observe the eutrophication using the
Inducing Ecology Restorative Symbiosis Agent (IERSA) consisting
mainly degraded products by using lactobacillus, saccharomycete,
and phycomycete. The results obtained from the experiments of the
batch scale and pilot plant study allowed us to development the
parameters for the field study. A pond, 5 m to the outlet of a lake,
with an area of 500 m2 and depth of 0.6-1.2 m containing about 500
tons of water was selected as a model. After the treatment with 10
mg IERSA/L water twice a week for 70 days, the micro restoration
mechanisms consisted of three stages (i.e., restoration, impact
maintenance, and ecology recovery experiment after impact). The
COD, TN, TKN, and chlorophyll a were reduced significantly in the
first week. Although the unexpected heavy rain and contaminate
from sewage system might slow the ecology restoration. However,
the self-cleaning function continued and the chlorophyll a reduced
for 50% in one month. In the 4th week, amoeba, paramecium, rotifer,
and red wriggle worm reappeared, and the number of fish flies
appeared up to1000 fish fries/m3. Those results proved that inducing
restorative mechanism can be applied to improve the eutrophication
and to control the growth of algae in the lakes by gaining the selfcleaning
through inducing and competition of microbes. The
situation for growth of fishes also can reach an excellent result due to
the improvement of water quality.
Abstract: In this paper a novel scheme for watermarking digital
audio during its compression to MPEG-1 Layer III format is
proposed. For this purpose we slightly modify some of the selected
MDCT coefficients, which are used during MPEG audio
compression procedure. Due to the possibility of modifying different
MDCT coefficients, there will be different choices for embedding the
watermark into audio data, considering robustness and transparency
factors. Our proposed method uses a genetic algorithm to select the
best coefficients to embed the watermark. This genetic selection is
done according to the parameters that are extracted from the
perceptual content of the audio to optimize the robustness and
transparency of the watermark. On the other hand the watermark
security is increased due to the random nature of the genetic
selection. The information of the selected MDCT coefficients that
carry the watermark bits, are saves in a database for future extraction
of the watermark. The proposed method is suitable for online MP3
stores to pursue illegal copies of musical artworks. Experimental
results show that the detection ratio of the watermarks at the bitrate
of 128kbps remains above 90% while the inaudibility of the
watermark is preserved.
Abstract: Speckle phenomena results from when coherent
radiation is reflected from a rough surface. Characterizing the speckle
strongly depends on the measurement condition and experimental
setup. In this paper we report the experimental results produced with
different parameters in the setup. We investigated the factors which
affects the speckle contrast, such as, F-number, gamma value and
exposure time of the camera, rather than geometric factors like the
distance between the projector lens to the screen, the viewing distance,
etc. The measurement results show that the speckle contrast decreases
by decreasing F-number, by increasing gamma value, and slightly
affects by exposure time of the camera and the gain value of the
camera.
Abstract: This study aims to explore the differences and
similarities in perceptions of affective climate antecedents at the
workplace (intimacy, flexibility, employment stability, and team)
among Japanese and Thai Generations X and Y. The samples in this
study were Thai and Japanese workers who completed a work
environment questionnaire and provided demographic information.
Generational differences in perceptions (beliefs) of what factors
contribute to affective climate were investigated using t-test analysis.
Mean scores for each antecedent were ranked to determine how each
generation in each group prioritized the importance of all affective
climate antecedents. Japanese Generation Y perceived the importance
of employment stability for affective climate of their workplaces to be
significantly higher than did Japanese Generation X. Thai Generation
Y considered flexibility with a higher priority than did Thai
Generation X. Intimacy was perceived as highly important across
generations and countries in regard to affective climate. Results
suggest that managers should design workplaces for a mixture of
diverse generations, resulting in a better affective climate. Differences
in the importance of antecedents for affective climate among
Generations X and Y in two countries were clarified. In addition,
different preferences regarding work environment across Japanese
Generations X and Y and Thai Generations X and Y were discussed.
Abstract: The main purpose of this study is to analyze the
relationship of leisure agriculture park visitors on tourist destination
image, environmental perception, travel experiences and revisiting
willingness. This study used questionnaires to Xinshe leisure
agriculture park visitors- targeted convenience sampling manner total
of 636 valid questionnaires. Valid questionnaires by descriptive
statistics, correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis, the
study found that: 1. The agricultural park visitors- correlations exist
between the destination image, perception of the environment, tourism
experience and revisiting willingness. 2."Excellent facilities and
services", "space atmosphere comfortable" and "the spacious paternity
outdoor space" imagery, of visitors- "revisiting willingness predict. 3.
Visitors- in leisure agriculture park "environmental perception" and
"travel experience, future revisiting willingness predict. According to
the analysis of the results, the study not only operate on the
recommendations of the leisure farm owners also provide follow-up
study direction for future researchers.
Abstract: This paper discusses the performance modeling and availability analysis of Yarn Dyeing System of a Textile Industry. The Textile Industry is a complex and repairable engineering system. Yarn Dyeing System of Textile Industry consists of five subsystems arranged in series configuration. For performance modeling and analysis of availability, a performance evaluating model has been developed with the help of mathematical formulation based on Markov-Birth-Death Process. The differential equations have been developed on the basis of Probabilistic Approach using a Transition Diagram. These equations have further been solved using normalizing condition in order to develop the steady state availability, a performance measure of the system concerned. The system performance has been further analyzed with the help of decision matrices. These matrices provide various availability levels for different combinations of failure and repair rates for various subsystems. The findings of this paper are therefore, considered to be useful for the analysis of availability and determination of the best possible maintenance strategies which can be implemented in future to enhance the system performance.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to understand how
consumers react to a company's promotional offers with mobile
applications (APP) as premiums. This paper presents the results of an
experimental study where five features of APP were involved: the
cost (free/discounted) for earning APP, the relationship between APP
and the promoted product, the perceived usefulness, the perceived
ease of use, and the perceived playfulness of APP in the context of
light foods purchase. The results support that the above features,
except perceived ease of use, have substantial influences on
consumers' intention to adopt the APP. Among the five features, the
cost for earning APP has the most impact on the adopting intention
of APP. The study also found a positive influence of adopting
intention of APP on the consumer's purchase intention of the
promoted product. Thus, APP-based premiums may enhance the
consumer's purchase intention of a company's promoted products.
Abstract: This paper proposes a novel game theoretical
technique to address the problem of data object replication in largescale
distributed computing systems. The proposed technique draws
inspiration from computational economic theory and employs the
extended Vickrey auction. Specifically, players in a non-cooperative
environment compete for server-side scarce memory space to
replicate data objects so as to minimize the total network object
transfer cost, while maintaining object concurrency. Optimization of
such a cost in turn leads to load balancing, fault-tolerance and
reduced user access time. The method is experimentally evaluated
against four well-known techniques from the literature: branch and
bound, greedy, bin-packing and genetic algorithms. The experimental
results reveal that the proposed approach outperforms the four
techniques in both the execution time and solution quality.
Abstract: ERP systems are often supposed to be implemented
and deployed in multi-national companies. On the other hand, an
ERP developer may plan to market and sale its product in various
countries. Therefore, an EPR system should have the ability to
communicate with its users, who usually have different languages
and cultures, in a suitable way. EPR support of Multilanguage
capability is a solution to achieve this objective. In this paper, an
agent oriented architecture including several independent but
cooperative agents has been suggested that helps to implement
Multilanguage EPR systems.
Abstract: One of research issues in social network analysis is to
evaluate the position/importance of users in social networks. As the
information diffusion in social network is evolving, it seems difficult
to evaluate the importance of users using traditional approaches. In
this paper, we propose an evaluation approach for user importance
with fractal view in social networks. In this approach, the global importance
(Fractal Importance) and the local importance (Topological
Importance) of nodes are considered. The basic idea is that the bigger
the product of fractal importance and topological importance of a
node is, the more important of the node is. We devise the algorithm
called TFRank corresponding to the proposed approach. Finally, we
evaluate TFRank by experiments. Experimental results demonstrate
our TFRank has the high correlations with PageRank algorithm
and potential ranking algorithm, and it shows the effectiveness and
advantages of our approach.
Abstract: The presented paper is related to the design methods and neutronic characterization of the reactivity control system in the large power unit of Generation IV Gas cooled Fast Reactor – GFR2400. The reactor core is based on carbide pin fuel type with the application of refractory metallic liners used to enhance the fission product retention of the SiCcladding. The heterogeneous design optimization of control rod is presented and the results of rods worth and their interferences in a core are evaluated. In addition, the idea of reflector removal as an additive reactivity management option is investigated and briefly described.
Abstract: In hydrocyclones, the particle separation efficiency is
limited by the suspended fine particles, which are discharged with the
coarse product in the underflow. It is well known that injecting water
in the conical part of the cyclone reduces the fine particle fraction in
the underflow. This paper presents a mathematical model that
simulates the water injection in the conical component. The model
accounts for the fluid flow and the particle motion. Particle
interaction, due to hindered settling caused by increased density and
viscosity of the suspension, and fine particle entrainment by settling
coarse particles are included in the model. Water injection in the
conical part of the hydrocyclone is performed to reduce fine particle
discharge in the underflow. The model demonstrates the impact of
the injection rate, injection velocity, and injection location on the
shape of the partition curve. The simulations are compared with
experimental data of a 50-mm cyclone.
Abstract: In this work, we solve multipoint boundary value
problems where the boundary value conditions are equations using
the Newton-Broyden Shooting method (NBSM).The proposed
method is tested upon several problems from the literature and the
results are compared with the available exact solution. The
experiments are given to illustrate the efficiency and implementation
of the method.
Abstract: This paper analyzes the patterns of the Monte Carlo
data for a large number of variables and minterms, in order to
characterize the circuit path length behavior. We propose models
that are determined by training process of shortest path length
derived from a wide range of binary decision diagram (BDD)
simulations. The creation of the model was done use of feed forward
neural network (NN) modeling methodology. Experimental results
for ISCAS benchmark circuits show an RMS error of 0.102 for the
shortest path length complexity estimation predicted by the NN
model (NNM). Use of such a model can help reduce the time
complexity of very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuitries and
related computer-aided design (CAD) tools that use BDDs.