Showing papers by "University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce published in 2012"

Workplace Spirituality, Meditation, and Work Performance

Abstract: This paper reports two studies that examine how an organization might enable more productive work practices by encouraging the expression of its employees’ spiritual selves in an eastern context. Study 1 shows that people who regularly practice meditation have higher workplace spirituality scores than people who do not regularly practice meditation. Study 2 reports a quasi-experimental study in which people practiced insight meditation. The data did not reveal a direct effect for the meditation, however spirituality does relate to work performance. Moreover, the practice of meditation is also found to partially mediate the relationship between workplace spirituality and work performance.

Undercovering research trends: Network analysis of keywords in scholarly articles

Abstract: In this study we present a network approach to uncovering trends in an area of research by analyzing keywords appearing in scholarly articles. We represent keywords as nodes. We link a pair of keywords if they appear in the same article. Each link is assigned a weight, representing the number of co-occurrences of the pair in different articles. We perform a statistical and visual analysis of the network's structural and temporal characteristics. These characteristics or patterns provide a broad understanding of how keywords are organized and research areas evolved over time. Our findings show that keywords organize themselves into three categories: topical keywords, complimentary keywords and, diverse keywords. Through comparative analysis of the networks built from articles published in two successive time windows, we are able to detect some interesting keyword patterns and emerging areas. Results from this analysis can be used for identifying emerging research areas or updating academic programs and course curricula. To demonstrate the approach we use keywords from the European Journal of Operational Research.

R&D, human capital, fertility, and growth

Abstract: This paper analyzes how the decisions of individuals to have children and acquire skills affect long-term growth. We investigate a model in which technical progress, human capital, and population arise endogenously. In such an economy, the presence of distortions (such as monopolistic competition, knowledge spillover, and duplication effects) leads the decentralized long-run growth to be either insufficient or excessive. We show that this result depends on the relative contribution of population and human capital in the determination of long-term growth, i.e., on how the distortions affect the trade-off between the quantity of offsprings and the quality of the family members.

Pricing Knowledge and Funding Research of New Technology Sectors in a Growth Model

Abstract: A radical evolution in intellectual property law and practices has followed the rise in importance of new technology industries. Nowadays, many patents directly protect knowledge. To account for this evolution, we construct a simple R&D-based growth model where pieces of knowledge are directly protected by patents. To deal with the nonconvexity property of technologies in which knowledge is an input and show how research can be funded privately, we construct a dynamic general equilibrium with Cournot competition and free entry where knowledge is exchanged on markets that can be subject to imperfect exclusion. Under the assumption of perfect exclusion, we show that research is funded optimally as the distortion caused by the knowledge spillover vanishes when markets are complete. We then argue and demonstrate that insufficient research investments leading to an insufficient level of growth can be explained by the public good nature of knowledge itself, i.e., the problem of imperfect exclusion faced by the sellers of knowledge.

Action research contextualizes DEA in a multi-organizational decision-making process

Abstract: The theory of participatory action research (PAR) grew out of the practice of problem-solving in groups and organization by involving the participation of all pertinent stakeholders in decision-making process through empowerment. The ontological assumption is that ''the world out there'' is defined by the participating stakeholders as they understand and perceive it. The actionable knowledge thus produced is mostly used subjectively in the hope of a favorable organizational change or a transformation for betterment. On the other hand, Management Science/Operations Research (MS/OR) is more concerned with epistemological objectivity in identifying and defining managerial issues and finding solutions. In this paper we shall show that MS/OR can benefit from and contribute to PAR in complex decision making contexts. This kind of mutual benefit will be illustrated through a study reported in the area of R&D planning. It will be shown that PAR ''contextualizes'' problem structuring whereas MS/OR ''optimizes'' the consensual decision-making process in a multi-organizational context.

Multiobjective Optimization of Aircraft Maintenance in Thailand Using Goal Programming: A Decision-Support Model

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to develop the multiobjective optimization model in order to evaluate suppliers for aircraft maintenance tasks, using goal programming. The authors have developed a two-step process. The model will firstly be used as a decision-support tool for managing demand, by using aircraft and flight schedules to evaluate and generate aircraft-maintenance requirements, including spare-part lists. Secondly, they develop a multiobjective optimization model by minimizing cost, minimizing lead time, and maximizing the quality under various constraints in the model. Finally, the model is implemented in the actual airline's case.

Evaluation of logistics companies using data envelopment analysis

Abstract: The main purpose of this paper is to develop appropriate construct to benchmark performances of logistics companies so that deficiencies can be highlighted and possible strategies can be evolved to improve the performances of the industry. The study applies data envelopment analysis (DEA) and Malmquist productivity index (MPI) to explore the operation performances of 55 Thai logistics companies from 2007 to 2010. The results point out the reasons for the inefficient Decision Making Units (DMUs) and provide improving directions for the inefficient companies accordingly. The study provides a simple but comprehensive methodology for improving logistics competences. By comparing the efficiency of logistics companies, this research contributes to find Thai logistics companies weaknesses in order to take effective measures to improve the their level of input and output so as to improve their logistics efficiency.

Are impairment indicators and losses associated in Thailand

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this research is to first examine whether the amount of impairment losses recognized by Thai listed firms is associated with the economic indicators suggested in the relevant accounting standard. Second, the study investigates whether efficiency versus opportunism dominates accounting for impairment by Thai listed firms.Design/methodology/approach – The multiple regression model is used to test whether impairment indicators and reporting incentives associate with impairment losses for a sample of 1,418 non‐financial listed Thai companies during 1999‐2004.Findings – Impairment losses are associated with all three levels (macro, industry, and firm‐specific performance measures) of impairment indicators described in Thai Accounting Standard (TAS) No. 36 (which is in accordance with the IAS No. 36). The results also reveal that management opportunistically recognizes impairment losses to smooth earnings when earnings increase. Inconsistent with Francis et al. and Riedl, the associatio...

GIS for Collaborative Research

Abstract: This article presents the importance of collaborative research and the growing trend of using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) as a mediator of spatial knowledge, social, and intellectual practice. Collaborative research projects generally involve researchers from multiple disciplines either in the same institution or between institutions toperform research. It is driven by complex problems requiring multidisciplinary solutions and the increased visibility provided by cross disciplinary research. With the rapid advancement of GIS, there is a substantial increase in the use of dynamic maps and advanced spatial functionsfor multidisciplinary research, such as environmental and urban planning. The distributed GIServices is considered as an appropriate infrastructure for developing a pervasive tool that supports data integration, data sharing, and data visualization from anywhere and anytime. The enabling technologies for distributed GIServices are discussed and three existing platforms related to web-based GIS that supports collaborative research: WorldMap, MapStory, and WISERD are illustrated.

Dissemination formats and major statistic data sets of the AEC countries: A survey

Abstract: Official statistics can be disseminated via different media including the Internet, paper publications, CD-ROM, fax, public speeches, and press releases. Dissemination formats such as HTML pages, PDF documents, and Excel sheets are widely used by national and international statistics agencies in releasing their data. However, with the recent worldwide movement that calls for opening up government or public data, more governments and institutions are increasingly publishing their data in more open formats such as SDMX, CSV, XML that allow users to freely use and reuse or even link their data. Examination of dissemination formats of statistics of the AEC countries in this study has shown that data still need to be disseminated in a more open format in cases of national statistical organizations in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, as well as ASEAN.

The most promising scheduling algorithm to provide guaranteed QoS to all types of traffic in multiservice 4G wireless networks

Abstract: There is a growing interest of wireless operators to migrate their existing 3G networks to different 4G technologies such as WiMAX and LTE. In this heterogeneous environment of wireless networks and architectures, one of the major concerns is how to allocate network resources efficiently to diverse traffic classes with different QoS constraints. Further it has been convincingly demonstrated through numerous high quality studies that multimedia traffic found in modern wireless networks exhibits Long-Range Dependence (LRD) and self-similarity, a phenomenon which cant' be captured by traditional traffic modeling based on simplistic Poisson model. Unlike most existing studies that are primarily based on simplistic Poisson model and traditional scheduling algorithms, this research presents an analytical performance model for multiple queue systems with self-similar traffic input scheduled by a novel and promising scheduling mechanism. Our proposed model is substantiated on G/M/1 queuing system that considers multiple classes of traffic exhibiting long-range dependence and self-similar characteristics. We analyze the model on the basis of newly proposed scheduling scheme. We present closed form expressions of expected waiting times for multiple traffic classes. We develop a finite queue Markov chain for the proposed scheduling scheme. We develop a discrete event simulator to understand the behavior of multiple classes of self-similar traffic under this newly proposed scheduling mechanism. The results indicate that our proposed scheduling algorithm provides preferential treatment to real-time applications such as voice and video but not to that extent that data applications are starving for bandwidth and outperforms all other scheduling schemes that are available in the market.

Estimation of band level resolutions of human chromosome images

Abstract: Current estimation methods for band level resolutions of human chromosome images in cytogenetic laboratories are time consuming and required experienced specialists to manually perform. To alleviate this problem, in this paper, a computerized approach to estimate band level resolution is proposed. The intensity gradient profile and sign profile of chromosome images are utilized to count the number of bands. Then band level resolutions of chromosome images are classified into three categories: 400-, 500-, and 550-band levels by using k-nearest neighbor algorithm. The experimental results show the accuracy of the proposed algorithm. We also provide a discussion on how to improve the overall accuracy.

The simple embedded system for three-phase solar motor pump using Volt/Hertz maximum power point tracking technique

Abstract: This paper presents the research and development on the embedded system for three-phase solar motor pump with the Volts/Hertz (V/F) maximum power point tracking technique (MPPT) which significantly simplifies the software design complexity for PWM three-phase motor drive inverter The software of the control system and MPPT is designed by using the microcontroller to generate the command signals for MC3PHAC chip The experimental results show that the maximum power adjusted by the proposed system on the variation of the sunlight intensity is very close to that of the reference system We also show the characteristics of the maximum power point tracking of the PV Array Our design of this system can be applied and developed on many other purposes In addition, by using our proposed software design, the implementation is simple and inexpensive

Price convergence in US cities: a cointegration approach with two structural breaks

Abstract: This article investigates how the price indices of major cities of the US respond to the shock from a city and from monetary policy. We find that the crisis of Bretton Woods system in 1968 and the oil crisis in 1974 should be incorporated as structural breaks in monetary policy variables and price indices. Using cointegration technique with structural break in our aggregated data, we find that the average half-life is 1.75 years, which is closer to what some of others found in disaggregated data, and that the interest rate is an effective tool for controlling cities’ price in short run.

User persona roles in the end-user web developing approach

Abstract: End-user is very important to require the system efficiently; however, most of the time they are not the one who create the system. The best thing they can do is give the system requirements and the system workflow to the developers. The ownership is more significant to include system acceptation by letting end-users design the system themselves. This aim of the research is to support the end-user web developing in software engineering discipline by using the real case scenario. The main task is to develop end-user personal website. The final result is that the end-user is able to create surveys/questionnaires online. This paper is the walk through and discussion approaches of how to utilize end-user persona. Evaluating exist tools by developers is also the essential step to generate the website according to enduser skills and requirements. The paper highlights the important issue of end-user involvement in the development processes. The end-user collaboration on the system is also shown in the paper. The conclusion and discussion of further research is addressed in the last part of the paper.

GDDs with Two Associate Classes and with Three Groups of Sizes 1, n, n and λ1<λ2

Abstract: A group divisible design GDDv=1+n+n,3, 3, λ 1, λ 2 is an ordered pair $V, \mathcal{B}$ where V is an 1+n+n-set of symbols and $\mathcal{B}$ is a collection of 3-subsets called blocks of V satisfying the following properties: the 1+n+n-set is divided into 3 groups of sizes 1, n and n; each pair of symbols from the same group occurs in exactly λ 1 blocks in $\mathcal{B}$ ; and each pair of symbols from different groups occurs in exactly λ 2 blocks in $\mathcal{B}$ . Let λ 1, λ 2 be positive integers. Then the spectrum of λ 1, λ 2, denoted by Specλ 1, λ 2, is defined by Specλ 1, λ 2={n∈i¾?: a GDDv=1+n+n,3, 3, λ 1, λ 2i¾?exists}. We found in [10] the spectrum Specλ 1, λ 2 provided that λ 1i¾?λ 2 in all situations. We find in this paper Specλ 1, λ 2 when λ 1<λ 2 in all situations.

Applying prototype for software engineering in pilot project of research tracking system

Abstract: The prototyping is the efficient method from many methodologies of software engineering approaches. The traditional waterfall model is suitable for the well understanding requirement and large project. The pilot project of research tracking system had never been established before in University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC). The staffs in the research department manually manage the research tracking system of researchers funding by UTCC which are approximately 20–30 projects a year. The prototyping methodology was chosen to apply to this work. The paper describes how the prototyping was created according to the theory compare to the real case scenario situation. The pros and cons of prototyping techniques are addressed in the paper. The recommendations and the observations from the practices were also taken into the consideration in this work.

Idiosyncratic Volatility and Expected Stock Returns: Evidence from Thailand

Abstract: 0 0 1 156 890 7 2 1044 14.0 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE This paper demonstrates the finding that time-varying expected idiosyncratic volatility has a significant and positive effect on expected stock returns for individual stocks as well as stock sectors. The positive relation remains after controlling for liquidity variables. The second finding is that time-varying expected market volatility has a significanteffect on expected stock returns for both individual stocks and stock sectors, which is consistent with the traditional capital asset pricing model. Although the models control for liquidity variables, the significantly positive relation still exists. In addition, expected idiosyncratic volatility plays a more important role than expected market volatility in determining expected stock returns in the case of individual stocks. In contrast, expected market volatility plays a more important role than expected idiosyncratic volatility in the case of stock sectors. Keywords : idiosyncratic volatility, market volatility, liquidity, expected stock return JEL Classification : C33, G12

The integration of security systems using WBSC

Abstract: Presently, the aggravated economy and society in many countries can critically lead to various forms of crimes, especially building robbery. Therefore, one of the best ways to prevent the properties’ owners from such crime is to install a security system. Basically, the designed building security systems consist of two installation systems, the Monitoring system such as Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) and the Alarm system. Each system has its own control equipments such as Digital Video Recorder for the CCTV system and Control Panel for the Alarm system, which might constitute high cost and difficulties to control and manage those equipments. In this paper, we introduce new controlled equipment for the both building security systems. It integrates and extends the functions to control both Monitoring and Alarm systems, which is called WBSC (Wireless Building Security Control). In addition, we also propose an incorporation of the wireless network, mobile network, and PSTN (Public Switching Telephone Network) into the use of the building security systems. Finally, the result of this paper presents a functional success of the WBSC equipment that meets the requirements to control the building security systems and to perform the alarming system very efficiently for the properties’ owner at anywhere and anytime.

Enhanced Flyer Acceleration by Varying the Ion Beam–Plasma Interaction Field

Abstract: This paper presents a method for enhancing the ablation plasma production and the flyer velocity for flyer acceleration. A significant approach introduced is to optimize the interaction field of the ablation plasma and the Al target. To do so, it is acceptable to adjust the distance of ion beam irradiation. A one-dimensional hydrodynamic model is used in the calculations. The cube-interpolated propagation (CIP) method is used to describe the ablation plasma production and the acceleration mechanism. In the calculations, a single-pulsed ion beam with a total energy density of 120 J/cm2 is used. The interaction field (ion beam irradiation distance) that varies from 50 to 1000 µm is fixed for the calculations. At the interaction field of 50 µm, the flyer velocity of 2 km/s is calculated, while the value of 1.3 km/s is obtained at the distance of 400 µm. The results show that the closer the interaction field (distance of ion beam irradiation), the higher the flyer velocity obtained. In addition, the results reveal that the interaction field directly affects the amount of the ablation plasma produced and the flyer momentum.

Vehicular separation by thermal features' relative angle for nighttime traffic

Abstract: This paper presents a thermal features' relative angle method to separate vehicles for nighttime traffic. The objective of research is to identify and separate vehicles that have ambiguous thermal features. The features comprising of windscreen, engine heat and elsewhere, are depicted as different intensities in each thermal image. Moreover, the relation between the three features observed from the set-up camera can be illustrated as an angle of windscreen to heat, which differentiates one group of vehicles from another. There are three operating modules proposed in this research, comprising vehicle-thermal features detection, relative angle calculation and seperation, respectively. Initially, the detecting process finds a vehicle engine heat-feature by subtracting the road's intensity, selecting a suspected area to cover the vehicle's windscreen feature. Secondly, the relative angle calculating model is implemented to find a relative angle. Eventually, the decision of vehicular group is made on the angle by the separating module. Experimentally, using three types of vehicle consisting of a car, van, and truck, the accuracy of separation is extremely high.

Model-based Measures of Output Gap: Application to the Thai Economy

Abstract: In this paper we compare two model-based measures of the output gap. The first measure, as proposed by Gali (2011), defines output gap as the difference between actual output and the output level that would be if the economy operates under a perfectly competitive market without price or wage stickiness. We used annual data of relevant variables for Thailand and computed the output gap under this approach. The calculated output gap for Thailand shows that the Thai economy performs consistently above the potential level, which is hard to rationalize especially during the period of recession. We then proposed a different model-based measure of the output gap, which is based on the method of “business cycle accounting” (Chari et al., 2007). The approach built on the prototype real business cycle models, which incorporate time-varying wedges that resemble productivity, labor and investment taxes, and government consumption shocks. As a result, the sources of business cycle fluctuation can be classified into efficiency, labor, investment, and government consumption wedges. We carried out a decomposition of real fluctuation in Thailand and then removed those wedges from the real output series to obtain the “potential output”, i.e. an output level when all the inefficiencies are removed. The analysis provides the estimated result of potential output and output gap for the Thai economy. Under this approach we found a negative output gap, which is opposite to the finding under Gali’s approach.

Torque ripple reduction in DTC of single-phase open-circuit fault PM brushless

Abstract: This paper presents a strategy to reduce torque ripple in direct torque control (DTC) of threephase permanent magnet brushless (PMBL) motor having a winding opencircuit fault. An extra inverter leg is employed to supply voltage to motor neutral point during post fault operation. The zerovoltage vectors are utilized to reduce the torque ripple. Mathematic model of nonsinusoidal backEMF PMBL motor is developed in which stator flux linkages and developed torque of the faulty motor are presented in a series function. To avoid the difficulty in variable estimation approximated models of stator flux linkages and developed torque based on fundamental component are established. Design of the proposed DTC is also described. The computer simulation shows that torque ripple can be reduced by the proposed method where zerovoltage vectors are utilized in the control scheme. Performances of the system with and without zerovoltage vectors in the scheme are presented and then validated by comparing with measured signals.

Confidence Intervals for the Parameter of a Gaussian First-Order Autoregressive Model with Additive Outliers: A Simulation Study

Abstract: This paper is concerned with interval estimation of a parameter for a Gaussian first-order autoregressive model, AR(1), when there are additive outliers in a time series. We compared the confidence intervals based on the weighted symmetric estimator ( ˆ W φ ), the recursive mean adjusted weighted symmetric estimator ( ˆ RW φ ), the recursive median adjusted weighted symmetric estimator ( ˆ RDW φ ), and the improved recursive median adjusted weighted symmetric estimator ( ˆ IRDW φ ) by using Monte Carlo simulation. Simulation results have