Search results for "ample"
showing 10 items of 2398 documents
TQM, innovation and the role of cultural change
2013
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to better understand the influence of total quality management (TQM) practices on incremental and radical innovation, examining the role of diverse cultural change as a mediator, particularly in firms where ever‐increasing competitive pressure demands a combination of quality and innovation.Design/methodology/approachFrom previous research on the influence of TQM practices on innovation, the paper proposes a model which is tested through a survey carried out on a sample of 72 Spanish firms that have been drastically hit by competition from Asian companies, achieving a 51.42 percent valid return rate.FindingsNone of the sets of TQM practices directly affec…
Development of a high-accuracy PC-based wattmeter with commercial data acquisition boards
2011
This paper presents the development of a high accuracy sampling wattmeter, which makes use of two commercial data acquisition boards (DAQs) connected to a common personal computer. Commercial software is also used for data processing and implementation of the virtual instrument. The set up of the PC-based wattmeter is described and a preliminary evaluation of its metrological performances is made by means of two series of experimental tests, which were carried out with an electric power standard and a high performance multifunction calibrator. © 2011 IEEE.
Cost Modelling In Waste Water Treatment Processes: An Empirical Analysis For Spain
2007
The reuse of resources obtained from regenerating wastewater is an absolute must both from a social and also environmental and health viewpoint. For any water reuse project to be viable, water treatment processes must be optimised. In this sense, extensive knowledge of the structure of costs associated to each of the treatment technologies available is necessary. This research applies cost modelling methodology by adjusting a series of representative functions and an empirical analysis is undertaken for a sample of wastewater treatment plants in Spain.
Cost modelling for wastewater treatment processes
2011
Abstract The aim of this paper is to provide a methodology for a better understanding of the cost structure of wastewater treatment processes. This methodology may be useful in the planning of new facilities. The existing models in the literature are focused on the influence of the capacity of plant, expressed as inhabitants or flow rate, on the cost of treatment. We propose a new approach for the operating cost function that includes the most representative variables in the process. The idea is that the modelling of treatment costs enables us to understand the key role of the economies of scale in this context; and also the influence of other variables such as contaminants removed, or the …
Multi-step ahead wind speed forecasting using an improved wavelet neural network combining variational mode decomposition and phase space reconstruct…
2017
Abstract Accurate wind speed forecasting is crucial to reliable and secure power generation system. However, the intermittent and unstable nature of wind speed makes it very difficult to be predicted accurately. This paper proposes a novel hybrid model based on variational mode decomposition (VMD), phase space reconstruction (PSR) and wavelet neural network optimized by genetic algorithm (GAWNN) for multi-step ahead wind speed forecasting. In the proposed model, VMD is firstly applied to disassemble the original wind speed series into a number of components in order to improve the overall prediction accuracy. Then, the multi-step ahead forecasting for each component is conducted using GAWNN…
A theoretical and methodological framework for the analysis and measurement of environmental heritage at local level
2017
Abstract The study aims to assess the lived experience and the environmental heritage perceived level by residents of an high complexity rural area, and which is, in this context, the role played by production of renewable energies. The paper introduces the concept of rural capital as an effective tool for environmental heritage analysis and measurement. The proposed theoretical and methodological approach allows, in fact, its analysis in order to understand what dimensions related to territoriality are connected to the perceived level of environmental heritage at local level. Translated into operational terms, the methodology has resulted in an empirical analysis of a rural and inner area …
Why do older drivers reduce driving? Findings from three European countries
2003
The objective of this study was to find out the reasons, which lead drivers to reduce their driving in varying cultural settings. Data on the prevalence of reduced driving, the reasons for and factors associated with reduced driving were obtained from Finnish, German and Italian home-dwelling active drivers (n=710) aged 55 and older. The subjects were interviewed in autumn 1995 at their homes with a standardized questionnaire as a part of the European project Keeping the Elderly Mobile: Technology to Meet Their Outdoor Mobility Needs. In the Finnish and German samples 62% and in the Italian sample 44% of the active drivers stated that they had reduced their driving. These persons drove fewe…
Analysing the conceptions on modelling of engineering undergraduate students: A case study using cluster analysis
2016
The problem of taking a set of data and separating it into subgroups where the elements of each subgroup are more similar to each other than they are to elements not in the subgroup has been extensively studied through the statistical method of Cluster Analysis . This method can be conveniently used to separate students into groups that can be recognized and characterized by common traits in their answers, without any prior knowledge of what form those groups would take (unsupervised classification). In the last years many studies examined the consistency of students’ answers in a variety of situations. Some of these papers have tried to develop more detailed models of the consistency of st…
Strengthening Safety Compliance in Nuclear Power Operations: A Role-Based Approach
2014
Safety compliance is of paramount importance in guaranteeing the safe running of nuclear power plants. However, it depends mostly on procedures that do not always involve the safest outcomes. This article introduces an empirical model based on the organizational role theory to analyze the influence of legitimate sources of expectations (procedures formalization and leadership) on workers' compliance behaviors. The sample was composed of 495 employees from two Spanish nuclear power plants. Structural equation analysis showed that, in spite of some problematic effects of proceduralization (such as role conflict and role ambiguity), procedure formalization along with an empowering leadership s…
A Procedure for Selecting Representative Subsamples of a Population from a Simple Random Sample
2015
This paper proposes a procedure for selecting large subsamples drawn from a large simple random sample that are more representative of the population under study. By means of the so-called constant of proportionality, the procedure seeks to maximize the size of the subsample taken from a stratified random sample with proportional allocation, restricting it to a p-value high enough to achieve a good fit using Pearson’s chi-square goodness of fit test. The user has the freedom to choose between a larger subsample with poorer adjustment or a smaller subsample with a better fit. We use the Continuous Sample of Working Lives (CSWL), a set of micro data taken from Spanish Social Security records,…