Scitech Research Journals
Not a member yet
1011 research outputs found
Sort by
An Enhanced Technique for Face Recognition and Retrieval with Feature Extraction Using Euclidean Distance Classifier
Get PDFToday, image processing enters into various fields, but still it is struggling in recognition issues. Face detection and recognition developed into a very active research area specializing on how to extract and recognize faces within images. Face recognition and retrieval is a widely used biometric application for security and identification concern. The various methods have been proposed for face recognition and each method has advantages and drawbacks. The complexity in process and other issues affects performance of existing system makes insufficient. In this paper presents face recognition and retrieval with geometrical feature vector to calculate the threshold value separately and stored in feature database. The feature is generated and matching is done by Euclidean distance classifier is used to measures a distance between two images. The experimental result shows that block truncation coding method provides better recognition rate when compared with the existing methods such as Local Binary Pattern, Multi-Block Local Binary Pattern Method
The Effects of Technology Import on High-Tech Industrial Structure Upgrading in China
Get PDFUsing panel data from 2004 to 2012 of five sub-industries in high technology industry, and the data of three economic regions of China, use factor analysis method to measure the degree of high technology industrial structure upgrading. Introducing cross terms of industrial and regional dummy variables to analyze the different effects of technology import, R&D capital stock on high technology industry sectors and regions of east, middle and west. Empirical Analysis shows that medical equipment and instrumentation manufacturing is most affected, but electronic and communication equipment, aviation spacecraft is little affected. From area: it significantly contributes to the middle region of high technology industry structural upgrading, while little impacts on the eastern and western regions
Modelling Customer Satisfaction at Ghana Commercial Bank: An Application of Ordinal Logit Regression
Get PDFIn the competitive banking business, customer satisfaction is taken as a matter of success. It rely on a multitude of factors and varies from one customer to another and product to product. The capability and ability of a bank depends on the degree of its customer satisfaction. Thus banks usually place more weight on customer satisfaction and loyalty. This paper analysed the effect of service quality on customer satisfaction at Ghana commercial bank. It was noted in the results that service quality dimensions on tangible, responsiveness, empathy and trust are relevant contributing factors to customer satisfaction at Ghana commercial bank. However, reliability and assurance, in terms of, service quality aspects are not really contributing significantly to customer satisfaction. The study suggest the following managerial policies. First, the managers should regularly conduct customer surveys and should incorporate feedback in the changes desired by the customers. The banks can provide training programs for their employees in order to make them more effective while dealing with the customers, especially in handling customer complaints. This can help to improve satisfaction by reducing defections of dissatisfied customers
Physical Environment as a Key Success Factor for Building Strong Brand Equity: A Study on Restaurant Industry
Get PDFPhysical environment is one of the important factors that influence customers’ choice towards selecting a restaurant over another. This paper is designed to examine the effect of physical environment on brand equity of restaurant industry in Malaysian market. The data was gathered from 293 customers of international fast food restaurant brands in East Coast Malaysia. The collected data was coded into SPSS and analysed using structural equation modelling approach (SEM) on AMOS. The findings indicated that the physical environment of a restaurant has significant positive effect on its brand equity. Moreover, this paper found that physical environment has significant positive effect on the dimensions of brand equity, namely: brand image, brand loyalty, brand preference, and brand leadership. The findings build upon the literature with regard to the role of physical environment in building strong brands. This study suggests that in order to succeed in a competitive market environment, it is vital to please or satisfy customers through providing products or services with added values. Such offering will ultimately lead to favourable brand image and stronger brand equity as customers tend to select or buy from brands that provide them with greater benefits
The Effective Adoption of ICT-Enabled Services in Educational Institutions – Key Issues and Policy Implications
Get PDFEducational institutions are becoming increasingly aware of the need to fully integrate the ICT enabled modern educational services in order to supplement the traditional paradigm of teaching and learning with more efficient and effective practices. However in achieving their urge for technology adoption at a quicker pace, they often get overwhelmingly obsessed with the supply-side dynamics of technology diffusion; thus running a risk of ignoring the demand-driven dimensions of technology adoption. Due to the poor understanding of the user-context and not paying enough attention to the inherent challenges faced by the users in the adoption of new technological services, these institutions may not achieve the intended results in terms of the desired educational improvements. Such a linear or “technology-push” approach may lead to a waste of organizational resources, as well as causing an increasing frustration both among teachers and students. This paper investigates the patterns of adoption for two ICT-enabled educational services: Learning Management System and e-books. Mixed method research has been employed to study the adoption experiences of newly enrolled university students in the UAE. The research findings and discussions are deemed to be highly relevant and beneficial for students, teachers, parents, researchers, policy makers, and administrators of academic institutions alike
Examining the Causal Relationships between Materialism, Status Consumption and Life Satisfaction
Get PDFThe purpose of this study is to explore the causal relationships between materialism, status consumption and life satisfaction. Status consumption scale (Eastman et al, 1999), short form of the material values scale (Richins, 2004) and life satisfaction scale (Mai and Tambyah, 2011; expanded from Richins and Dawson, 1992) were used in this study. We carried out surveys on 464 consumers. We used reliability analysis, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, Pearson correlation analysis and structural equation modeling. Consequently, we found that there is a negative and significant relationship between materialism and life satisfaction; there is a positive and significant relationship between materialism and status consumption and there is a positive and significant relationship between status consumption and life satisfaction.
Urban Waste Disposal Management and Service Delivery in Port Harcourt Metropolis of Nigeria
No full textThe study was necessitated by the indiscriminate dumping of refuse in public places and on drainages which now constitute an eyesore and sometimes block this drainage system which results to flood and destruction of properties. The general objective of this study is to determine the extent to which urban waste management affect service delivery while the specific objective is to examine the extent to which solid waste management affect the quality of service delivery in Port Harcourt metropolis. The study employed Correlation Research Design, with a population of seven hundred and twenty thousand, two hundred and forty eight (720,248) people, and a sample size of four hundred (400) determined with the use of Taro Yamane formula of finite population. The statistical data was analyzed using the Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient on SPSS which establishes the extent of the relationship between the variables under consideration. The findings showed that there is a significant relationship between solid waste management and quality of service delivery in Port Harcourt metropolis. The researcher recommended that private sector participation should be allowed in waste collection/management. This will ensure prompt clearance of solid wastes from the receptacles or dumping sites and also sanitary/dumping sites should be properly selected and managed by the government
Entrepreneurs' Job Satisfaction and Its Relationship to Super-Leadership and Self-Leadership
Get PDFHow is entrepreneurs' job satisfaction influenced by their use of super-leadership and self-leadership strategies? Can a mindset geared toward leading others and oneself predict entrepreneurs’ job satisfaction? This article reports research on entrepreneurs' use of super- and self- leadership strategies and their subsequent ratings of personal job satisfaction. One-hundred-and-two entrepreneurs completed a questionnaire measuring the super-leadership dimension “coaching and communicational support”, four dimensions of self-leadership (i.e., constructive thought focus, natural reward focus, physical vitality focus, behavioral focus), and job satisfaction. Structural equation analysis lends support to a model where self-leadership behavior is introduced as a variable mediating the relationship between super-leadership and job satisfaction of entrepreneurs. Implications for research and applications are discussed
The Influence of Perceived Insider Status on New Employee Engagement
Get PDFThis study from the perspective of new employees' perceived insider status, study on the influence mechanism of perceived insider status on engagement, and introduce psychological capital as intermediary variable. It focuses on the subject of new employees who begin to work within 3 years. Finally, 278 valid questionnaires were collected. Through empirical analysis, the research hypothesis is well verified, and the conclusion is drawn. The conclusions of this study include: (1) perceived insider status can affect new employees’ engagement; (2) psychological capital can affect new employees’ engagement; (3) perceived insider status can affect new employees’ psychological capital; (4) psychological capital plays an intermediary role in the relationship between perceived insider status and new employees’ engagement. At last, we propose the suggestion to strengthen new employees’ engagement, making the research can be effectively applied to the practice of enterprise management
The Key Market Disadvantages for Public Private Partnership in Health Care Sector in Poland
Get PDFThe Polish health care system is based on an insurance model. The main source of funding of the system is health insurance in the NFZ. Citizens are charged with compulsory insurance premiums representing 9% of personal income (7.75% is deducted from the income tax, and 1.25% is covered by the insured), which is paid to the health insurance institution (NFZ). But the health care system in Poland has been experiencing serious difficulties for many years now. Herewith this article I present the most important market difficulties. On the one hand, there are the weaknesses of the system of organizing and financing the provision of health care benefits and on the other, the lack of adequate financial resources to ensure an acceptable treatment standard. PPP might become the remedy for those problems. The key success factors of implementing PPP in transforming health care market in Poland are presented