Optimal design of water distribution systems based on entropy and topology

A new multi-objective evolutionary optimization approach for joint topology and pipe size design of water distribution systems is presented. The algorithm proposed considers simultaneously the adequacy of flow and pressure at the demand nodes; the initial construction cost; the network topology; and a measure of hydraulic capacity reliability. The optimization procedure is based on a general measure of hydraulic performance that combines statistical entropy, network connectivity and hydraulic feasibility. The topological properties of the solutions are accounted for and arbitrary assumptions regarding the quality of infeasible solutions are not applied. In other words, both feasible and infeasible solutions participate in the evolutionary processes; solutions survive and reproduce or perish strictly according to their Pareto-optimality. Removing artificial barriers in this way frees the algorithm to evolve optimal solutions quickly. Furthermore, any redundant binary codes that result from crossover or mutation are eliminated gradually in a seamless and generic way that avoids the arbitrary loss of potentially useful genetic material and preserves the quality of the information that is transmitted from one generation to the next. The approach proposed is entirely generic: we have not introduced any additional parameters that require calibration on a case-by-case basis. Detailed and extensive results for two test problems are included that suggest the approach is highly effective. In general, the frontier-optimal solutions achieved include topologies that are fully branched, partially- and fully-looped and, for networks with multiple sources, completely separate sub-networks

Analisa Laporan Arus Kas sebagai Alat Bantu Pengambilan Keputusan pada CV. Jpp Kabupaten Purwakarta

Laporan arus kas merupakan alat yang digunakan untuk mengetahui seberapa besar kas yang telah digunakan untuk membiayai operasi Perusahaan, apakah pengalokasian aliran kas masuk dan aliran kas keluar tepat dan efisien. Dengan adanya analisa laporan arus kas ini, maka akan dapat membantu pihak-pihak yang berkepentingan baik pihak intern seperti pemegang saham, Pihak Manajemen maupun pihak-pihak ekstern seperti Pemerintah, kreditur dan untuk mengetahui darimana diperoleh sumber kas dan bagaimana penggunaan kas tersebut serta dapat membantu pihak-pihak tersebut dalam mengambil keputusan. Didalam penelitian ini teknik analisis data yang digunakan adalah Analisis Deskriptif. Hasil penelitian pada CV. JPP Kabupaten Purwakarta merupakan Perusahaan yang bergerak dalam bidang jati unggul produk Perhutani yang diperoleh dari program pemuliaan pohon .Hasil evaluasi pada dasarnya aktivitas Perusahaan dalam hal ini adalah baik karena sumber kas yang terbesar berasal dari aktivitas operasi yaitu laba bersih yang merupakan sumber kas utama bagi Perusahaan. Pembelian benih KBK serta semai JPP berpotensi mengurangi harta Perusahaan , serta jumlah kas yang menganggur pada Perusahaaan. Dengan demikian Perusahaan perlu memperhatikan Efesiensi kas untuk menghindari terjadinya kerugian dan juga menghindari jumlah kas yang menganggur

Employees performances at the palm oil factory: A Fundamental study

The present study investigate the palm oil factory employee performance at Pahang Malaysia. It was found that personal motivation, remuneration, and training was an important factor to determine the employees’ performance, but work environment was rejected. The finding of this study is important and make an additional information for employers to motivate employees and develop effective ways to improve employees’ performance in order to grow the palm oil manufacturing industry through creating a good relationship between management and operations staff. This is essential because employee is the most valuable asset for an organization to be successful and highly productivity can only be achieved through excellent employee performanc

Analisis Kinerja Keuangan Daerah Pada Satuan Kerja Perangkat Daerah Penghasil Pendapatan Asli Daerah Di Lingkungan Pemerintah Kota Palu

The aim of this research is to determine and analyze the growth of actual revenues, effectiveness, activity ratio and contribution of locally generated revenues on each regional revenues-producing government institution in Palu City. Te research is descriptive and its sample consist of 13 regional government unit that are selected through census or non-probability sampling. Tool of analysis used are locally generated revenues growth ratio, locally generated revenues effectiveness ratio, activity ratio with ratio of harmony and tax and contribution analysis of taxes and levies. The resultshows that 1) The growth of loccaly generated revenues is generally fluctuated and there are three local governance unit show negative growth; 2) managerial effectiveness of locally generated revenues is quite effective, and there are three local governance unit showed poor and ieffective performance; 3) spending aspect identifies four local governance units with indirect expenditure greater than direct expenditure; 4) contribution aspect indicates that the majority of revenues in the local government units has less contribution to the locally generated revenues, only two institutions perform good criteria

Prediksi Kebangkrutan Perusahaan Menggunakan Algoritma C4.5 Berbasis Forward Selection

Memprediksi kebangkrutan Perusahaan adalah upaya yang penting dalam mengatasi masalah manajemen Perusahaan dengan tujuan utamanya adalah mengoptimalkan pengelolaan fitur yang berpengaruh dalam memprediksi kebangkrutan Perusahaan. Masalah mendasar dalam machine learning adalah proses optimasi keputusan untuk mendapatkan fungsi kombinasi yang optimal. Forward selection adalah pendekatan wrapper yang sering digunakan dalam seleksi fitur otomatis, forward selection mampu menghapus fitur yang tidak relevan, mengembangkan dan menambah kualitas data, serta meningkatkan performa dan akurasi model. Penelitian ini mengusulkan algoritma C4.5 berbasis forward selection untuk menemukan atribut yang berpengaruh dalam peningkatan akurasi prediksi kebangkrutan Perusahaan. Hasil penelitian yang telah dilakukan dengan penerapan algoritma C4.5 berbasis forward selection menghasilkan beberapa fitur signifikan, dalam penelitian menggunakan 250 record atribut compettivenes dan credibility menjadi fitur yang signifikan dari 6 atribut yang ada. Dalam penelitian dengan 250 record algoritma C4.5 mendapatkan hasil akurasi sebesar 99.60% dan algoritma C4.5 berbasis forward selection dengan akurasi sebesar 99.61%

Employees' perceptions of fairness in practice of performance appraisal

Employees’ performance appraisal (PA) is an essential tool used by organisations to develop and improve employees’ competencies and skills, and so assure organisations’ survival. In recent years research has moved from a psychometric approach, such as rater accuracy and rating error studies, to the qualitative aspect of PA where employees’ reactions and perceptions of performance appraisal are seen as indicators of success and effectiveness. Employees’ satisfaction with the system is indicated by scholars as the major indicator of employee perception of fairness (Cardy and Dobbins, 1994; Cawley et al., 1998; Keeping and Levy, 2000; Murphy and Cleveland, 1995). The focus of this research is on the employees’ perceptions of fairness in performance appraisal in Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC). A conceptual framework is developed based on three dimensions of organisational justice theory (the terms ‘justice’ and ‘fairness’ are used interchangeably): distributive, procedural (using the due process model), and interactional, which involves interpersonal and informational justice, to explore employees’ perceptions of justice in their appraisal. A qualitative approach was applied through an interpretivist paradigm; semi-structured interviews were used for collecting primary data from 44 respondents.The findings reveal the practice of performance appraisal is strongly influenced by cultural factors, which are divided into two dimensions. First, social factors, which include relationship, friendship, family relations, regionalism, tribe, personal interest and emotion. Second, managerial factors or characteristics of the manager (the terms supervisor, manager, direct manager, or rater are used interchangeably to refer to the person who evaluates or assesses employees’ performance) which includes expectations of managers that their subordinates obey them, managers’ tendency to threaten subordinates, and unwillingness to accept criticism. In relation to the process and procedures of appraisal the findings reveal a feeling that appraisal ratings did not reflect employees’ actual contributions or input, absence of standards for allocating salaries, and unequal training course distribution.The findings also reveal that goals and objectives are not set at the beginning of each appraisal period, and the appraisal standards used by supervisors are unclear, there is no clear feedback, and employees cannot participate in their appraisal process, meaning that appraisal decisions are only taken by managers. When employees receive their result, if they are dissatisfied with their grades they cannot appeal as the decision process is not explained to them. Employees were dissatisfied for three reasons: first, raters’ bias and subjectivity; second, evaluation depends on the department budget, and on forced distribution; third, involvement of top management in the rating and their changing the result without contacting the direct manager or supervisor who conducted the evaluation. These findings strongly support the organisational justice theory, and have important implications for practice

Ultrastructure of Wheat (Triticum aestivum) Leaf Cells Infected with Leaf Rust (Puccinia recondita), and Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus

Puccinia recondita ultrastructure resembles that of other rust species. The urediospore infection was characterized by the formation of a specialized structure, the haustorium, within the leaf cells. The haustorium contains organelles such as nuclei, mitochondria, microbodies, ribosomes, lipid bodies, and vacuoles. A haustorial neck connects the haustorium with the haustorial mother cell, and contains a neck band made up of darkly stained material. The neck band was located at the last one third of its length toward the haustorium. The haustorial mother cell was situated intercellularly, and closely adhering to the cell wall, but contained few organelles, and the nucleus was never evident. The intercellular hyphae were packed with organelles. The hyphal cells were separated by septa which were perforated and nonperforated. Nuclei, and nucleoli.were frequently found in intercellular hyphae. In the septal pore region, mitochondria, microbodies, and glycogen bodies, appear to be bounded by a membrane which separates it from the cytoplasm. Rod and spherical shaped virus-like particles (VLPs) were observed in several haustoria and intercellular hyphae. Most of the VLPs examined were different from the wheat streak mosaic virus, (WSMV), and existed in fungal haustoria, and intercellular hyphae infecting wheat tissues that were either infected or not infected with WSMV. The VLPs detected in one haustorium, were indistinguishable from the virus particles infecting the host cell outside the haustorium. The fungal plasmalemma in the haustoria, haustorial necks, intercellular hyphae and urediospores, were repeatedly folded, and formed conspicuous invaginated membranous structures which occurred either connected to or next to the plasma membrane. It is proposed that those membranous structures be called Invaginated Fungal PlasmaleJTma (IFP). Crystalline and noncrystalline containing microbodies were found in haustoria, intercellular hyphae and urediospores. Their number ranged from two to nine per fungal propagule, but generally they were more abundant in haustoria. Crystalline and noncrystalline microbodies appeared together in several haustoria. Attempts to transmjt WSMV by urediospores were unsuccessful, even though VLPs were detected in the fungal propagules

Portal steel trusses vs. portal steel frames for long-span industrial buildings

© 2018 Ernst & Sohn Verlag für Architektur und technische Wissenschaften GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin Portal frames and portal truss structures are two of the most cost-effective and sustainable structural forms for the design and construction of long-span industrial buildings. Although the use of both structure types as steel-clad structures is widely accepted, due to frame complexity and variation of frame types for use in single-storey buildings with spans > 30 m, literature providing a comprehensive investigation of the concepts of portal trusses and portal frames is scarce. This study compares the behaviour of a portal truss configuration with pitched portal frames for use in industrial buildings with spans > 30 m, focusing on weight, costs and construction time. Furthermore, this study entails a numerical investigation that utilizes the SAP2000 computer program to model and structurally optimize the member properties for both portal frame and portal truss configurations. Based on the results obtained from the investigation, it has become apparent that, due to the smaller sections used, the portal truss configurations are lighter and cheaper to fabricate and construct in comparison to the pitched portal frames, which, however, require a shorter construction time