An intelligent computer-aided design system incorporating considerations for aesthetics and the environment

Amidst intense competition, manufacturers are constantly striving to improve their competence with others. In this respect, aesthetics of the product has become one of the prime factors in capturing market share. On the other hand, ever increasing pressure from the public, customers and governments has forced manufacturers to take environmental considerations very seriously. This study focuses on the development of an intelligent computer-aided design system in order to assist designers to design specifically on the basis of aesthetic and environmental considerations. The study began with an extensive literature survey. It was found that small volume of research work had been done in the topic of design for aesthetics whereas a substantial volume of research had been ongoing in the field of design for environmental considerations. Although the aspect of combination of these two factors of design was not fully investigated. So the project was understood to be a novel one. To achieve the objectives of the research, two research surveys were conducted to gauge public viewpoint about the aesthetical attributes of the bottles of several consunler products. The first survey was conducted among Dublin City University (DCU)'s students and staff, and the second one among the residents of Dublin city and its suburb. The information obtained from these two surveys was used in the development of the design system. The design system consists of overall score & aesthetics advisor, simple material selection for bottles index, simple life cycle analysis and golden section ruler modules. The author created threshold values for the first three modules that work as benchmarks to judge the design in terms of aesthetics and environmental considerations. This novel approach of design and the software tool developed will be helpful aids to the designers to consider aesthetics and environmental aspects of design at the primary stage leading to faster product development and savings of money

Integrating Web-based e-Learning in TVET to Enhance the Literacy and Socio-economic Condition for Sustainable Development of Bangladesh

The purpose of the research is to use the technologies to shift the emphasis from teaching to learning. The ultimate goal of Web-based e-Learning is to bring the learning to the learners, not to bring the learners’ to learning. The teaching-learning phenomena of developed countries have changed from Brick to Click approaches (e-Learning). However, Web-based e-Learning is still new paradigm in developing countries like Bangladesh. Web-based e-Learning is absent in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system. TVET in Bangladesh is depriving from the benefit of Web-based e-Leaning. Thus, the aims of the research are to illustrate the residence with mode of internet use and internet services with level of education; to explore the current literacy rate (%) by different economic classes in rural and urban areas; to identify the physical facilities of TVET classrooms; and to assess the infrastructural conditions of TVET institutions for providing the suggestions to Web-based e-Learning integration in Bangladesh. The researchers have visited 45 TVET institutions and observed 210 live classrooms in Bangladesh. The infrastructural conditions of 30 TVET institutions in urban areas were also observed with the structured questionnaires to get the results for applying the concept of Web-based e-Learning integration. The expected outcomes of the research are, once the e-Learning system can be introduced in TVET in developing countries like Bangladesh, there will be a breakthrough in the education system. More students will be enrolled, outreach will go further, better learning material will ensure quality output, ICT based technology will be adopted in the process of and finally bring an integrated benefit to the society.   Keywords: Web-based e-Learning, TVET, Literacy rate and Socio-economic development

Unleashing Modified Deep Learning Models in Efficient COVID19 Detection

The COVID19 pandemic, a unique and devastating respiratory disease outbreak, has affected global populations as the disease spreads rapidly. Recent Deep Learning breakthroughs may improve COVID19 prediction and forecasting as a tool of precise and fast detection, however, current methods are still being examined to achieve higher accuracy and precision. This study analyzed the collection contained 8055 CT image samples, 5427 of which were COVID cases and 2628 non COVID. The 9544 Xray samples included 4044 COVID patients and 5500 non COVID cases. The most accurate models are MobileNet V3 (97.872 percent), DenseNet201 (97.567 percent), and GoogleNet Inception V1 (97.643 percent). High accuracy indicates that these models can make many accurate predictions, as well as others, are also high for MobileNetV3 and DenseNet201. An extensive evaluation using accuracy, precision, and recall allows a comprehensive comparison to improve predictive models by combining loss optimization with scalable batch normalization in this study. Our analysis shows that these tactics improve model performance and resilience for advancing COVID19 prediction and detection and shows how Deep Learning can improve disease handling. The methods we suggest would strengthen healthcare systems, policymakers, and researchers to make educated decisions to reduce COVID19 and other contagious diseases. CCS CONCEPTS Covid,Deep Learning, Image Processing KEYWORDS Covid, Deep Learning, DenseNet201, MobileNet, ResNet, DenseNet, GoogleNet, Image Processing, Disease Detection

Green Supply Chain Management Practices by Superstores in Bangladesh: A Case Study in Dhaka

Green Supply Chain Management  has emerged as a comparatively newfangled area of supply chain management in Bangladesh. Implementation  of green supply chain management practices has been directed by the ever-increasing demand of protection of the environment in various sectors across the country, especially in the capital Dhaka. Several business institutions are dealing with the issue of sustainability in the supply chain by employing green Supply Chain Management .The study analyzes various green logistics practices implemented by different superstores in Dhaka. Primary data were collected through a pre-assigned questionnaire which included questions towards the respondents regarding green logistics practices employed. The respondents of the study were the branch or outlet managers or their counterpart in various superstores in Dhaka. The sample size of the study was 90 drawn randomly from different locations in Dhaka. Data were analyzed applying Pearson’s correlation coefficient, test of significance etc. via SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science). Significance was determined with p-value ≤ 0.01. Findings of the study revealed highly significant correlation between arrangement of seminar and workshop with management of greening and tree plantation. One limitation of the study was the fact that some of the respondents were a bit diffident to give enough time as the superstores were going through busy schedules most of the time. Keywords: Supply chain management, Pearson’s correlation coefficient,  test of significance. DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/11-16-08 Publication date:June 30th 201

GLOBALIZATION AND ITS IMPACT ON INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

Purpose of the study: The aim of this paper is to boost the knowledge regarding globalization and its impact on international business. International business is a vast range of business activities involving the exchange of goods and services among individuals and businesses across national borders. In conjunction with the galloping of globalization, international business has been a topic among business executives and has drawn the attention of all industries. Methodology: Data for this study were obtained from existing literatures on the role of globalization and its impact on international business. The methodology relied on existing previous literature on the subject being dealt with. Findings: Globalization in the international era and the contrasts between countries result in both opportunities and threats to international businesses. Therefore, all business entities need to bear in mind and take notes on any changes in the globalized business environment when executing any adjustment and resolution and in administering current international operations. Implication: The present study broke down how the various types of globalization affected international business. A firm’s competency to trade goods and services internationally, transfer their production to other countries, and pick up the knowledge from abroad on the efficiency of operation. It has been growing due to the technological advancement, rising earnings, liberalization of cross-border movements and cooperative arrangements among nations

IMPACT OF GLOBAL LEADERSHIP BEHAVIORS ON PERFORMANCE OF MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES

Purpose of Study: The aim of this study is to influence the global leadership behaviors on performance in multinational companies. The leadership of multinational companies has become a prominent issue in the 21st century. Organizational performance depends on the leadership style and behavior of the organization. It is also viewed as the survival and profitability of an organization in which its measurement is primary both in manufacturing and services. On the other hand, transactional leadership focuses mainly on goal attainment and transactional leaders are focused on task completion and have fewer emphasis on the emotions and challenges of subordinates or employees. Methodology: The data for this study were obtained from existing literatures on the impact of global leadership behaviors on the performance of multinational companies. The methodology heavily relied on existing previous literatures on the subject being dealt with. Results: Transactional leadership was explicated as the style of leadership that focuses on meeting specific goals or performance criteria and the development of followers and their needs. Relations-oriented leaders are different from task-oriented leaders. On this side of the spectrum, relations-oriented leaders tend to focus more on developing a close relationship with their employees. Implications: Transactional leadership style lacks supervision and influence on subordinates from leaders, as they indulge themselves from any situation that threatens or confronts them; therefore, the responsibilities are shifted on the employees

Nitrate control and quality in hydroponic lettuce by using cow dung extract and nutrient solution

Hydroponically grown lettuce poses a high nitrate risk, raising concern about its quality. Therefore, this work was employedto determine the accumulation of nitrate in lettuce leaf and the phytochemical properties of hydroponic lettuce. Treatmentsconsidered as four different levels of aerated cow dung extracts (CD), viz., CD1 = 50 g.L-1, CD2 =100 g.L-1, CD3 =150 g.L-1 and CD4 =200 g.L-1 and four strengths of standard nutrient solution (S), viz, S1 = 30% of standard nutrient solution, S2 = 40% of standard nutrient solution, S3 = 50% of standard nutrient solution and S4 = 60% of standard nutrient solution. The experiment was carried out in a deep flow technique in semigreenhouse. In the case of cow dung extract, the highest total fresh weight (112.05 g/plant) was recorded from CD3 while the lowest in CD1 and for nutrient solution, the highest fresh weight (116.0 g/plant) was recorded from S4 while the lowest in S1. In the event of, nitrate and ascorbic acid content were statistically higher in CD4 followed by CD3 and the lowest in CD1. In case of nutrient solution, the nitrate content was highest in S4 and the lowest in S1. The highest fresh weight and almost all the parameters were found to be the best in CD3S4 and the lowest in CD1S1. Therefore, the analysis showed that CD3S4 would be the most preferable treatment combination for producing quality lettuce with the lower content of nitrate

Role of ICT in Higher Educational Administration in Uganda

The study was on the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in higher educational administration in Uganda. The study population comprised of four universities. Convenience sampling was used to obtain the sample size of 48 admininistrators from the population. The study aimed at identifying the roles of ICT in higher educational administration and a survey method was employed to investigate the study. Related literatures were reviewed from journals and past researches, data was collected using a well designed and validated questionnaire, the data was statistically analyzed and interpreted using weighted average and chi square test. The findings of this study revealed that ICT greatly enhanced educational administrator’s performance through improving cross communication at the managerial level, quick access to needed information, provides media and enhances information accuracy, analyzing data fast and effectively, their knowledge and skills a networked platform for collaborative work, motivates administrators through access to new information, for research purposes and enhances research skills of administrators, evaluation of staff and students is made easier, helps administrators in result processing, analyzes data quickly and accurately, reduces on workload, good and secure storage of information, improves coordination of tasks and activities. Therefore, the findings reveal that the proprietors of universities should procure more ICT facilities and equipment in order to ensure maximum efficiency and effectiveness in all dimensions of educational administration

Student engagement, brand image and loyalty relationships: The mediating role of student satisfaction

The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between student engagement, brand image, student satisfaction and loyalty. Furthermore, the study intends to explore the mediating role of student satisfaction in the relationship between engagement and loyalty as well as brand image and loyalty in the context of higher education.  A representative sample of 296 students from the three best private universities in Dhaka has been gathered in order to test the hypotheses. The study demonstrates that brand image has a favorable impact on student satisfaction while student engagement has no influence on student satisfaction. The results show that loyalty is heavily influenced by the student satisfaction construct. When there is no mediation between student engagement and loyalty, a complete mediation is recognized when student satisfaction is a mediator between brand image and student loyalty. The study also reveals that there is a negative correlation between student engagement and satisfaction. The results of the research definitely improve brand perception which keeps students engaged to their higher education

A study of forecasting practices in supply chain management

This study demonstrates forecasting practices in supply chain management (SCM) at various areas, particularly Pharmaceuticals, Retail, and FMCG. The authors depicts the scenario of forecasting practices based on secondary data and represents SCM role, demand management, collaborative coordination, etc. In addition to this, the study reveals the limitation and few practical solutions on forecasting to be useful in the organization. Consequently the author describes recommendation and proposes a model on forecast management model. Though this paper highlights case studies,however, it unlocks further frontiers for the prospective researchers as well as practitioners in order to apply forecasting techniques