Search results for: recognition primed decision

Authors: Vladimir Korovkin, Albert Park, Evgeny Kaganer

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The paper studies the second-level digital divide (the one defined by the way how digital technology is used in everyday life) between regions of the Russian Federation. The paper offers a systemic review of literature on the measurement of the digital divide; based upon this it suggests a composite Digital Life Index, that captures the complex multi-dimensional character of the phenomenon. The model of the index studies separately the digital supply and demand across seven independent dimensions providing for 14 subindices. The Index is based on Internet-borne data, a distinction from traditional research approaches that rely on official statistics or surveys. Regression analysis is used to determine the relative importance of factors like income, human capital, and policy in determining the digital divide. The result of the analysis suggests that the digital divide is driven more by the differences in demand (defined by consumer competencies) than in supply; the role of income is insignificant, and the quality of human capital is the key determinant of the divide. The paper advances the existing methodological literature on the issue and can also inform practical decision-making regarding the strategies of national and regional digital development.

Keywords: digital transformation, second-level digital divide, composite index, digital policy, regional development, Russia

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Authors: Fiona Bei Na Tan, Glen Wen Kiat Ho, Ee Leen Liow, Li Yin Tan, Sean Wei Loong Ho

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Background: Shoulder arthroscopy is an increasingly common procedure. Pneumothorax post-shoulder arthroscopy is a rare complication. Objectives: Our aim is to highlight a case report of pneumothorax post shoulder arthroscopy and to conduct a literature review to evaluate the possible risk factors associated with developing a pneumothorax during or after shoulder arthroscopy. Case Report: We report the case of a 75-year-old male non-smoker who underwent left shoulder arthroscopy without regional anaesthesia and in the left lateral position. The general anaesthesia and surgery were uncomplicated. The patient was desaturated postoperatively and was found to have a pneumothorax on examination and chest X-ray. A chest tube drain was inserted promptly into the right chest. He had an uncomplicated postoperative course. Methods: PubMed Medline and Cochrane database search was carried out using the terms shoulder arthroplasty, pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum, and subcutaneous emphysema. We selected full-text articles written in English. Results: Thirty-two articles were identified and thoroughly reviewed. Based on our inclusion and exclusion criteria, 14 articles, which included 20 cases of pneumothorax during or after shoulder arthroscopy, were included. Eighty percent (16/20) of pneumothoraxes occurred postoperatively. In the articles that specify the side of pneumothorax, 91% (10/11) occur on the ipsilateral side of the arthroscopy. Eighty-eight percent (7/8) of pneumothoraxes occurred when subacromial decompression was performed. Fifty-six percent (9/16) occurred in patients placed in the lateral decubitus position. Only 30% (6/20) occurred in current or ex-smokers, and only 25% (5/20) had a pre-existing lung condition. Overall, of the articles that posit a mechanism, 75% (9/12) deem the pathogenesis to be multifactorial. Conclusion: The exact mechanism of pneumothorax is currently unknown. Awareness of this complication and timely recognition are important to prevent life-threatening sequelae. Surgeons should have a low threshold to obtain diagnostic plain radiographs in the event of clinical suspicion.

Keywords: rotator cuff repair, decompression, pressure, complication

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Authors: Sai Sudarshan, Harsh Vyas, Riddhiman Sherlekar

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The oil and gas industry has been unwilling to adopt stochastic definition of reserves. Nevertheless, Monte Carlo simulation methods have gained acceptance by engineers, geoscientists and other professionals who want to evaluate prospects or otherwise analyze problems that involve uncertainty. One of the common applications of Monte Carlo simulation is the estimation of recoverable hydrocarbon from a reservoir.Monte Carlo Simulation makes use of random samples of parameters or inputs to explore the behavior of a complex system or process. It finds application whenever one needs to make an estimate, forecast or decision where there is significant uncertainty. First, the project focuses on performing Monte-Carlo Simulation on a given data set using U. S Department of Energy’s MonteCarlo Software, which is a freeware e&p tool. Further, an algorithm for simulation has been developed for MATLAB and program performs simulation by prompting user for input distributions and parameters associated with each distribution (i.e. mean, st.dev, min., max., most likely, etc.). It also prompts user for desired probability for which reserves are to be calculated. The algorithm so developed and tested in MATLAB further finds implementation in Python where existing libraries on statistics and graph plotting have been imported to generate better outcome. With PyQt designer, codes for a simple graphical user interface have also been written. The graph so plotted is then validated with already available results from U.S DOE MonteCarlo Software.

Keywords: simulation, probability, confidence interval, sensitivity analysis

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Authors: Mahera Abdulrahman, Satish Chandrasekhar Nair

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Growing demand for human health research in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has prompted the need to develop a robust research ethics oversight, particularly given the large unskilled-worker immigrant population and the elderly citizens utilizing health services. Examination of the structure, function, practices and outcomes of the human research ethics committees (HREC) was conducted using two survey instruments, reliable and validated. Results indicate that in the absence of a national ethics regulatory body, the individual emirate’s governed 21 HRECs covering health facilities and academic institutions in the UAE. Among the HRECs, 86% followed International Council for Harmonization-Good Clinical Practice guidelines, 57% have been in operation for more than five years, 81% reviewed proposals within eight weeks, 48% reviewed for clinical and scientific merit apart from ethics, and 43% handled more than 50 research proposals per year. However, researcher recognition, funding transparency, adverse event reporting systems were widespread in less than one-third of all HRECs. Surprisingly, intellectual property right was not included as a research output. Research was incorporated into the vision and mission statements of many (62%) organizations and, mechanisms such as research publications, collaborations, and recognitions were employed as key performance indicators to measure research output. In spite, resources to generate research output such as dedicated budget (19%), support staff (19%) and continuous training and mentoring program for medical residents and HREC members were somehow lacking. HREC structure and operations in the UAE are similar to other regions of the world, resources allocation for efficient, quality monitoring, continuous training, and the creation of a clinical research network are needed to strengthen the clinical research enterprise to scale up for the future. It is anticipated that the results of this study will benefit investigators, regulators, pharmaceutical sponsors and the policy makers in the region.

Keywords: institutional review board, ethics committee, human research ethics, United Arab Emirates (UAE)

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Authors: Zain Ul Abideen

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The study examines the potentially dark and bright parts of behavioral biases in investors’ investment decisions in the Pakistani equity market. These biases, directly and indirectly, play a comprehensive role in controlling and deciding the investor’s investment decisions. Stock market anomalies are used as a mediator, while financial literacy is used as a moderator to check the mentioned relationship. The sample consisted of investors who have trading experience of more than two years in the stock market. The result indicates that calendar anomalies do not mediate between overconfidence bias and investment decisions. However, the study investigates the mediating role of fundamental and technical anomalies between overconfidence bias and investment decisions. Furthermore, calendar anomalies play a significant role between the disposition effect and investment decisions. Calendar anomalies also mediate between herding bias and investment decisions. Financial literacy significantly moderates between behavioral biases and stock market anomalies. This research would be beneficial for individual and professional investors in their investment decisions. They should be financially literate, consequently less biased and have no market anomalies. Investors in emerging and developed economies can make optimal decisions in their respective stock markets.

Keywords: behavioral biases, financial literacy, stock market anomalies, investment decision

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Authors: Alexandru Gridan, Georgeta Ionescu, Ovidiu Ionescu, Ramon Jurj, George Sirbu, Mihai Fedorca

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The Brown Bear population size in Romania is approximately 7300-7600 individuals, which is projected to be 3000 individuals over the ecological carrying capacity. The Habitats Directive imposed certain protection rules on European Union (EU) Member States with Brown Bear populations. These however allow countries like Sweden, Croatia, Slovakia, Estonia to hunting as management tool, harvesting up to 10% of the surplus bear population annually. From the point Romania joined the EU to 2016, active conservation management has contributed to maintaining the highest and most genetically diverse Brown Bear population in Europe. Importantly, there has been good coexistence between people and bears and low levels of human-bear conflict. After social pressure and campaigning by some non-governmental organisations citing issues over monitoring, the environment minister decided in September 2016 to stop the use of hunting as a management tool for bears. Against this background, this paper provides a set of recommendations to resolve the current conflict in Romania. These include the need for collaborative decision-making to reduce conflicts between stakeholders and mechanisms to reduce current human-bear conflicts, which have increased by 50 percent in the past year.

Keywords: bear, bear population, bear management, wildlife conflict

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Authors: Chargui Abderrahman, Nehdi Afef , BelaïD Amine , Djerbi Nadir, Tauc Michel, Hofman Paul, Mograbi Baharia, El May MichèLe

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K63-linked ubiquitination — i.e. conjugation of a chain of ubiquitins (Ub) linked through lys63 — has emerged as a key mechanism regulating signalling transduction pathways. Although critical, very little information is currently available about how subversion of K63 ubiquitination might contribute to cancers and inflammatory diseases. The present study provides the first evidence that Cadmium (Cd), a widespread environmental carcinogen and toxicant, is a powerful activator of K63 ubiquitination. Indeed, Cd induces accumulation of K63 polyUb proteins. Importantly, Cd-induced ubiquitination does not stem on oxidative damage or proteasome impairment. Rather, we demonstrate that Cd not only activates K63 ubiquitination but also amplifies their accumulation by overloading the capacity of autophagy pathway. At molecular level, Cd-induced ubiquitination is correlated with stabilization of HIF-1 and the activation of NF-B, two transcription factors. Strikingly, prolonged cell exposure to high Cd concentrations induces an exaggerated K63 ubiquitination that fosters aggresome formation, thus precluding these proteins from interacting with their downstream nuclear targets. We therefore propose that the aberrant activation of K63 ubiquitination by the carcinogen Cadmium could promote cell proliferation and inflammation at low levels while high levels committed cell to death.

Keywords: cadmium, environmental exposure, Lysine-63-ubiquitination, kidney, apoptosis, proliferation, autophagy

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Authors: Shivi Agarwal, Trilok Mathur

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This paper proposes the method to measure the total factor productivity (TFP) change by credibility theory for fuzzy input and output variables. Total factor productivity change has been widely studied with crisp input and output variables, however, in some cases, input and output data of decision-making units (DMUs) can be measured with uncertainty. These data can be represented as linguistic variable characterized by fuzzy numbers. Malmquist productivity index (MPI) is widely used to estimate the TFP change by calculating the total factor productivity of a DMU for different time periods using data envelopment analysis (DEA). The fuzzy DEA (FDEA) model is solved using the credibility theory. The results of FDEA is used to measure the TFP change for fuzzy input and output variables. Finally, numerical examples are presented to illustrate the proposed method to measure the TFP change input and output variables. The suggested methodology can be utilized for performance evaluation of DMUs and help to assess the level of integration. The methodology can also apply to rank the DMUs and can find out the DMUs that are lagging behind and make recommendations as to how they can improve their performance to bring them at par with other DMUs.

Keywords: chance-constrained programming, credibility theory, data envelopment analysis, fuzzy data, Malmquist productivity index

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Authors: Lauren Freed

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This research proposal outlines an examination of homeschool oversight in the Massachusetts educational system amid the backdrop of ideological differences between various parties with contributing interests. This mixed methodology study will follow an interpretive policy research approach, involving the use of existing data, surveys, and focus groups. The aim is to capture distinct sets of meanings, values, feelings, and beliefs by principal stakeholders, while exploring the ways in which they/each interact with, interpret, and implement homeschool guidelines set forth by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Decision Care and Protection of Charles (1987). This analysis will identify and contextualize the attitudes, administrative choices, financial implications, and educational impacts that result from the process and practice of enacting current homeschool oversight policy in Massachusetts. The following question will guide this study: How do districts, homeschooling parents, and Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) regulate, fund, collect, interpret, implement and report Massachusetts homeschool oversight policy? The resulting analysis will produce a unique and original baseline snapshot of qualitative and quantifiable point-in-time data based on the registered homeschool population in the state of Massachusetts.

Keywords: alternative education, homeschooling, home education, home schooling policy

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Authors: Archana Singh, Jyoti Agarwal, Ajay Rana

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Data Mining is an efficient technology to discover patterns in large databases. Association Rule Mining techniques are used to find the correlation between the various item sets in a database, and this co-relation between various item sets are used in decision making and pattern analysis. In recent years, the problem of finding association rules from large datasets has been proposed by many researchers. Various research papers on association rule mining (ARM) are studied and analyzed first to understand the existing algorithms. Apriori algorithm is the basic ARM algorithm, but it requires so many database scans. In DIC algorithm, less amount of database scan is needed but complex data structure lattice is used. The main focus of this paper is to propose a new optimized algorithm (Friendly Algorithm) and compare its performance with the existing algorithms A data set is used to find out frequent itemsets and association rules with the help of existing and proposed (Friendly Algorithm) and it has been observed that the proposed algorithm also finds all the frequent itemsets and essential association rules from databases as compared to existing algorithms in less amount of database scan. In the proposed algorithm, an optimized data structure is used i.e. Graph and Adjacency Matrix.

Keywords: association rules, data mining, dynamic item set counting, FP-growth, friendly algorithm, graph

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Authors: Mohammad Atiqur Rahman

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The study aimed at inventorying the threatened biodiversity of Bangladesh and assessing the rate of loss of biodiversity caused due to environmental degradation for conservation management. The impact assessment of environmental depletion and rate of biodiversity loss determination have been made by a long term field investigation, examination of preserved herbarium specimens and survey of relevant floristic literature following the IUCN’s threatened criteria of assessing Red List Plants under the Flora Bangladesh Project. Biodiversity of Bangladesh, as evaluated, has been affected to a large extent during the last four and half decades due to spontaneous environmental degradation caused by frequent occurrence of cyclonic storms and tidal bores since 1970 and flooding, draught, unilateral diversion of trans-boundary waters by operating Farakka Barrage since 1975, indiscriminate destruction and over exploitation of natural resources, unplanned development and industrialization, overpopulation etc. Depletion of world’s largest mangrove biodiversity in Sundarbans, coastal and island biodiversity in southern part, agro-biodiversity and agro-fisheries all over the country, Haor and wetland biodiversity of plain lands, terrestrial and forest biodiversity in central and eastern hilly part of Bangladesh, as assessed, have greatly been occurred at a higher rate due to environmental degradation which in turn affect directly or indirectly the economy, food security and environmental health of the country. Complete inventory of 30 plant families resulted in the recognition of 45.18% species of Bangladesh as threatened environmentally and 13.23% species as possibly extinct from the flora since these have neither been reported or could be traced in the field for more than 100 years. The rate of extinction is determined to be 2.65% per 20 years. Hence the study indicates that the loss of biodiversity and environmental degradation in Bangladesh occurring at an alarming rate. The study focuses on the issues of environment, the extent of loss of different plant biodiversities in Bangladesh, prioritizing and implementing national conservation strategies for sustainable management of the environment.

Keywords: Bangladesh, biodiversity, conservation, environmental management

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Authors: Mao Ju

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The system of general counsel (GC) is an important governance structure designed for the construction of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) under the rule of law. This article is based on the setting of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and takes the efficiency of M&As to examine the implementation effect of the system of GC for SOEs. Research has found that: (1) companies implementing the system of GC for SOEs have higher efficiency in M&As, manifested in better operational and market performance, and this effect depends on the professional ability and power of the GC. This indicates that the GC of SOEs has played a positive role in the decision-making process of M&As, which helps to improve the efficiency of M&As. (2) The impact of the GC of SOEs on the efficiency of M&As is heterogeneous, and this positive effect is mainly reflected in local and commercial SOEs. (3) The path of this impact is that the GC of SOEs can help reduce ineffective M&As in advance, enhance the ability to integrate M&As after the fact and reduce the risk of goodwill impairment and bankruptcy. This article reveals the impact of the construction of SOEs under the rule of law with the system of GC as the core of M&As activities, providing intuitive evidence for the implementation effect of the GC of SOEs. The research conclusion has important practical guiding value for comprehensively deepening the construction of the rule of SOEs under the rule of law and writing a good chapter on the Chinese path to modernization of SOEs.

Keywords: the system of general counsel, merger and acquisition efficiency, state-owned enterprises, mergers and acquisitions

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Authors: Ratu Khabiba, Qisha Quarina

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This study aims to analyse the effect of married couples’ assortative educational attainments on the division of economic activities among themselves in the household. This study contributes to the literature on women’s participation in employment, especially among married women, to see whether the traditional values about gender roles in the household still continue to shape the employment participation among married women in Indonesia, despite increasing women’s human capital through education. This study utilizes the Indonesian National Socioeconomic Survey (SUSENAS) 2016 and estimates the results using the multinomial logit model. Our results show that compared to high-educated educational homogamy couples, educational heterogamy couples, especially hypergamy, have a higher probability of being a single-worker type. Moreover, the high-educated educational homogamy couples have the highest probability of being a dual-worker type. Thus, we found evidence that the traditional values of gender role segregation seem to still play a significant role in married women’s employment decision in Indonesia, particularly for couples’ with educational heterogamy and low-educated educational homogamy couples.

Keywords: assortative education, dual-worker, hypergamy, homogamy, traditional values, women labor participation

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Authors: Pac Ordu

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The paper was conceived on the premise that employment of tertiary education graduates has become an endemic problem in Nigeria. Recognizing the objective of current education as schooling for paid employment, the paper identified that the basic objective of present-day education should be schooling to become self-employed. While schooling to become a successful employee was identified as the focus for the older generation, schooling to become self-employed was defined as the focus for 21st-century teaching and learning. Hence, the paper condemned the inability of curriculum implementers to teach creative trends to enable students to acquire practical skills and small business operation-oriented competencies. A review of some disciplines was made to show the new trend of education that would empower Nigerian students with small business enterprise operation skills for self-employment on graduation. This was further made to draw the attention of institutions and curriculum designers to the need for our curriculum to be functional in line with demands of the innovative economic environment. The paper also noted that at periods of recession with its attendant effects, was the best period for students of entrepreneurship to dream and create their small business enterprises. It highlighted the role of Federal College of Education (Technical) Omoku, Rivers State, Nigeria and the national recognition it has received for developing an innovative, practical model of teaching entrepreneurship education in Nigeria Colleges of Education system. In order to equip students for economic survival on graduation, the introduction of innovative teaching can only be successful if lecturers shift their focus away from the conventional emphasis on theory to students’ energy quotients. While the paper obviously recommended that lecturers should be creative and teach outside the curriculum box, it further recommended that students should use this period of their studentship to dream, create and operate their own small business enterprises.

Keywords: 21st century students, curriculum, entrepreneurship, hands-on-training, innovative

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Authors: Zebider Asire Munyelet, Yibeltal Chanie Manie

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In the modern digital landscape, the increase of social media platforms has become identical to the evolution of online consumer behavior. This study investigates the complicated relationship between social media and the purchasing decisions of online buyers. Through an extensive review of existing literature and empirical research, the aim is to comprehensively analyze the multidimensional impact that social media exerts on the various stages of the online buyer's journey. The investigation encompasses the exploration of how social media platforms serve as influential channels for information dissemination, product discovery, and consumer engagement. Additionally, the study investigates into the psychological aspects underlying the role of social media in shaping buyer preferences, perceptions, and trust in online transactions. The methodologies employed include both quantitative and qualitative analyses, incorporating surveys, interviews, and data analytics to derive meaningful insights. Statistical models are applied to distinguish patterns in online buyer behavior concerning product awareness, brand loyalty, and decision-making processes. The expected outcomes of this research contribute not only to the academic understanding of the dynamic interplay between social media and online buyer behavior but also offer practical implications for marketers, e-commerce platforms, and policymakers.

Keywords: consumer Behavior, social media, online purchasing, online transaction

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Authors: Matheus Fonseca Durães, Bruno da Silva Pereira, Bruna Stewart

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The concept of Brazil’s water governance has been the topic of discussion and has undergone legal and organizational improvements due to the need to promote a more effective and sustainable relationship with natural resources and stemming from conflicts related to shortcomings in decision-making. The Waters Act has enabled Brazil to create interesting mechanisms for integrated management, but, on the other hand, it has created a challenge that involves the implementation of the principles established in this legal framework. This study aims to evaluate some challenges and opportunities for water governance in two watersheds based on data collection and analysis of concessions, the water use register, and flow data. The elements presented demonstrated, via an analysis of legally instituted criteria, that the level of commitment of water resources is high, especially to public supply, and the adoption of the reference flow constituted one of the main barriers to implementing an efficient system, demonstrating the need for a regulatory policy that considers the hydrological behavior of the watersheds. Finally, the current water management model presents challenges to be addressed to achieve the objectives proposed by the water policy, such as ensuring sustainable, rational, and integrated use of water resources.

Keywords: management, hydrology, public policies, Brazil

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Authors: K. R. Roopesh Bharatwaj, Avinash Maharana, Favour Tobi Aborisade, Roger Young

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Presently, there are few cases of complete automation of drones and its allied intelligence capabilities. In essence, the potential of the drone has not yet been fully utilized. This paper presents feasible methods to build an intelligent drone with smart capabilities such as self-driving, and obstacle avoidance. It does this through advanced Reinforcement Learning Techniques and performs object detection using latest advanced algorithms, which are capable of processing light weight models with fast training in real time instances. For the scope of this paper, after researching on the various algorithms and comparing them, we finally implemented the Deep-Q-Networks (DQN) algorithm in the AirSim Simulator. In future works, we plan to implement further advanced self-driving and object detection algorithms, we also plan to implement voice-based speech recognition for the entire drone operation which would provide an option of speech communication between users (People) and the drone in the time of unavoidable circumstances. Thus, making drones an interactive intelligent Robotic Voice Enabled Service Assistant. This proposed drone has a wide scope of usability and is applicable in scenarios such as Disaster management, Air Transport of essentials, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Monitoring people movements in public area, and Defense. Also discussed, is the entire drone communication based on the satellite broadband Internet technology for faster computation and seamless communication service for uninterrupted network during disasters and remote location operations. This paper will explain the feasible algorithms required to go about achieving this goal and is more of a reference paper for future researchers going down this path.

Keywords: convolution neural network, natural language processing, obstacle avoidance, satellite broadband technology, self-driving

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Authors: Mohammad Shahid Jamil

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In this study we have investigated students’ learning and satisfaction in one of the course offered in the Foundation Program at Qatar University. We implied innovative teaching methodology that emphasizes on enhancing students’ thinking skills, decision making, and problem solving skills. Some interesting results were found which can be used to further improve the teaching methodology. To make sure the full use of technology in Foundation Program at Qatar University has started implementing new ways of teaching Math course by using Blackboard as an innovative interactive tool to support standard teaching such as Discussion board, Virtual class, and Study plan in My Math Lab “MML”. In MML Study Plan is designed in such a way that the student can improve their skills wherever they face difficulties with in their Homework, Quiz or Test. Discussion board and Virtual Class are collaborative learning tools encourages students to engage outside of class time. These tools are useful to share students’ knowledge and learning experiences, promote independent and active learning and they helps students to improve their critical thinking skills through the learning process.

Keywords: blackboard, discussion board, critical thinking, active learning, independent learning, problem solving

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Authors: Hiba Mezaache

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The current study aimed to know the impact of using information and communication technology on the process of re-engineering small and medium enterprises, as the world witnessed the speed development of the latter in its field of work and the diversity of its objectives and programs, that also made its process important for the growth and development of the institution and also gaining the flexibility to face the changes that may occur in the environment of work, so in order to know the impact of information and communication technology on the success of this process, we prepared an electronic questionnaire that included (70) items, and we also used the SPSS statistical calendar to analyze the data obtained. In the end of our study, our conclusion was that there was a positive correlation between the four dimensions of information and communication technology, i.e., hardware and equipment, software, communication networks, databases, and the re-engineering process, in addition to the fact that the studied institutions attach great importance to formal communication, for its positive advantages that it achieves in reducing time and effort and costs in performing the business. We could also say that communication technology contributes to the process of formulating objectives related to the re-engineering strategy. Finally, we recommend the necessity of empowering workers to use information technology and communication more in enterprises, and to integrate them more into the activity of the enterprise by involving them in the decision-making process, and also to keep pace with the development in the field of software, hardware, and technological equipment.

Keywords: information and communication technology, re-engineering, small and medium enterprises, the impact

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Authors: Tayyibah Khanam, Mohammad Saad Alam, Sanchari Deb, Yasser Rafat

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Electric vehicles are considered as viable replacements to gasoline cars since they help in reducing harmful emissions and stimulate power generation through renewable energy sources, hence contributing to sustainability. However, one of the significant obstacles in the mass deployment of electric vehicles is the charging time anxiety among users and, thus, the subsequent large waiting times for available chargers at charging stations. Data analytics, on the other hand, has revolutionized the decision-making tasks of management and operating systems since its arrival. In this paper, we attempt to optimize the choice of EV charging stations for users in their vicinity by minimizing the time taken to reach the charging stations and the waiting times for available chargers. Time taken to travel to the charging station is calculated by the Google Maps API and the waiting times are predicted by polynomial regression of the historical data stored. The proposed framework utilizes real-time data and historical data from all operating charging stations in the city and assists the user in finding the best suitable charging station for their current situation and can be implemented in a mobile phone application. The algorithm successfully predicts the most optimal choice of a charging station and the minimum required time for various sample data sets.

Keywords: charging data, electric vehicles, machine learning, waiting times

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Authors: Asma AlQahtani, Jumana AlHadad, Maryam AlQallaf, Shoug AlHasan

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New product development (NPD) is the complete process of bringing a new product to the customer by integrating the two broad divisions; one involving the idea generation, product design and detail engineering; and the other involving market research and marketing analysis. It is a common practice for companies to undertake some of these tasks simultaneously (concurrent engineering) and also consider them as an ongoing process (continuous development). The current study explores the framework and methodology for a new product development process utilizing the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) tool for bringing the customer opinion into the product development process. An elaborate customer survey with focus groups in the region was carried out to ensure that customer requirements are integrated into new products as early as the design stage including identifying the recognition of need for the new product. A QFD Matrix (House of Quality) was prepared that links customer requirements to product engineering requirements and a feasibility study and risk assessment exercise was carried out for a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) in Kuwait for development of the new product. SMEs in Kuwait, particularly in manufacturing sector are mainly focused on serving the local demand, and often lack of product quality adversely affects the ability of the companies to compete on a regional/global basis. Further, lack of focus on identifying customer requirements often deters SMEs to envisage the idea of a New Product Development. The current study therefore focuses in utilizing QFD Matrix right from the conceptual design to detail design and to some extent, extending the link this to design of the manufacturing system. The outcome of the project resulted in a development of the prototype for a new molded product which can ensure consistency between the customer’s requirements and the measurable characteristics of the product. The Engineering Economics and Cost studies were also undertaken to analyse the viability of the new product, the results of which was also linked to the successful implementation of the initial QFD Matrix.

Keywords: Quality Function Deployment, QFD Matrix, new product development, NPD, Kuwait SMEs, prototype development

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Authors: lidija Vujičić, Akvilina Čamber Tambolas

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The increasinginterest of ECCE policyandpractice in the issue of children'sparticipation in theirownlivesis a consequence of the changingimage of the childand the shift in focus to thechild as anactive participant in socio-culturalrealityinstead of theearlierfocus on thechild'sindividual development.TheConvention on the Rights of theChild (1989) stronglysupportstheimage of thechild as a competent participant in education - capable of formingopinions, withtheright to expressthemselves on allmattersaffectingthe mand with the right to haveadultsaroundthemrespectthis. Notwithstandingthecontemporaryparadigm of ECCE, however, achievements in thisarea are still in theirinfancy. This is evident in thepractices of ECCE, whereearlyyearsandpre-schoolchildren are stillseen as users of systemsandservicesratherthanagents of change in theirsocialcommunities. Recent literature identifiestheneed for lifelong, continuouslearning of preschoolteachersthroughresearchintotheirownpedagogicalpractice as aneffectiveway of bridgingthegapbetweentheoryandpracticeandcontinuouslyimprovingthequality of ECCE institutions. Notwithstandingthecontemporaryparadigm of ECCE, however, achievements in thisarea are still in theirinfancy. Recent literature identifiestheneed for lifelong, continuouslearning of preschoolteachersthroughresearchintotheirownpedagogicalpractice as aneffectiveway bridgingthegapbetweentheoryandpracticeandcontinuouslyimprovingthequality of ECCE institutions. Thispaperpresentstheprocess of actionresearchaimed at increasingchildren'sparticipation in (co-)designingthekindergartencurriculumandparticipation in decision-making on issuesaffectingtheirstay in theinstitution. Thisactionresearchtook place in 2 facilities of theinstitution ECCE - DV Rijeka. In thisresearchparticipated 5 preschoolteachersworking in 4 pedagogicalgroups, where childrenfrom 2 to 7 yearsold are enrolled. Also, the process of development of reflexivepractice of preschoolteacherswhoparticipated in thisresearchispresented.

Keywords: action research, co-construction of curriculum, participation of children, reflexive practice

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Authors: Wid Kattan, Rahaf Albarraq

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Background: Tokophobia is a pathological fear of pregnancy that can lead to the avoidance of childbirth. It is classified as primary or secondary. This report describes a patient with tokophobia, as well as her presentation, risk factors, comorbidities, and treatment. Case Presentation: A 43-year-old Saudi woman experienced tokophobia upon becoming pregnant for the fifth time. She was assessed in two clinical interviews by a consultant psychiatrist specializing in women’s mental health. In addition, she completed several questionnaires for assessment of different aspects of her mental health: overall depression, perinatal depression, generalized anxiety, maternal functioning, and fear of childbirth (FOC). Several risk factors and comorbidities that may have contributed to the development of tokophobia in this patient were discussed, including traumatic experiences in previous deliveries, the unplanned nature of the pregnancy, perinatal depression, and pronounced symptoms of anxiety. A collaborative decision to perform a C-section was made, in line with obstetric guidelines and good mental health practice. Full symptomatic recovery was achieved immediately after delivery. Conclusions: We hope to increase clinical awareness of the assessment and management of tokophobia, which is a relatively new concept and, as yet, understudied.

Keywords: tokophobia, fear of childbirth, mental health, anxiety, case report, depression, fear of delivery, psychiatry, cesarean section, perinatal depression

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Authors: Tasir Khan, Yejuan Wang

Abstract:

The study of extreme rainfall events is very important for flood management in river basins and the design of water conservancy infrastructure. Evaluation of quantiles of annual maximum rainfall (AMRF) is required in different environmental fields, agriculture operations, renewable energy sources, climatology, and the design of different structures. Therefore, the annual maximum rainfall (AMRF) was performed at different stations in Pakistan. Multiple probability distributions, log normal (LN), generalized extreme value (GEV), Gumbel (max), and Pearson type3 (P3) were used to find out the most appropriate distributions in different stations. The L moments method was used to evaluate the distribution parameters. Anderson darling test, Kolmogorov- Smirnov test, and chi-square test showed that two distributions, namely GUM (max) and LN, were the best appropriate distributions. The quantile estimate of a multi-parameter PD offers extreme rainfall through a specific location and is therefore important for decision-makers and planners who design and construct different structures. This result provides an indication of these multi-parameter distribution consequences for the study of sites and peak flow prediction and the design of hydrological maps. Therefore, this discovery can support hydraulic structure and flood management.

Keywords: RAMSE, multiple frequency analysis, annual maximum rainfall, L-moments

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Authors: Srinivas Vangari

Abstract:

With the technological advancements around the globe, artificial intelligence (AI) has boosted supply chain management (SCM) by improving efficiency, sensitivity, and promptness. Artificial intelligence-based SCM provides comprehensive perceptions of consumer behavior in dynamic market situations and trends, foreseeing the accurate demand. It reduces overproduction and stockouts while optimizing production planning and streamlining operations. Consequently, the AI-driven SCM produces a customer-centric supply with resilient and robust operations. Intending to delve into the transformative significance of AI in SCM, this study focuses on improving efficiency in SCM with the integration of AI, understanding the production demand, accurate forecasting, and particular production planning. The study employs a mixed-method approach and expert survey insights to explore the challenges and benefits of AI applications in SCM. Further, a case analysis is incorporated to identify the best practices and potential challenges with the critical success features in AI-driven SCM. Key findings of the study indicate the significant advantages of the AI-integrated SCM, including optimized inventory management, improved transportation and logistics management, cost optimization, and advanced decision-making, positioning AI as a pivotal force in the future of supply chain management.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, supply chain management, accurate forecast, accurate planning of production, understanding demand

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Authors: Hao Yuan, Yongjian Shen, Xiangjun He, Yuheng Li, Zhouzhou Zhang, Pengyu Zhang, Minkang Cai

Abstract:

Remote sensing data can provide support for decision-making in disaster assessment or disaster relief. The traditional processing methods of sensitive targets in remote sensing mapping are mainly based on manual retrieval and image editing tools, which are inefficient. Methods based on deep learning for sensitive target hiding are faster and more flexible. But these methods have disadvantages in training time and cost of calculation. This paper proposed a target hiding model Self Attention (SA) Deepfill, which used self-attention modules to replace part of gated convolution layers in image inpainting. By this operation, the calculation amount of the model becomes smaller, and the performance is improved. And this paper adds free-form masks to the model’s training to enhance the model’s universal. The experiment on an open remote sensing dataset proved the efficiency of our method. Moreover, through experimental comparison, the proposed method can train for a longer time without over-fitting. Finally, compared with the existing methods, the proposed model has lower computational weight and better performance.

Keywords: remote sensing mapping, image inpainting, self-attention mechanism, target hiding

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: Nor Wahiza Abdul Wahat, Nor Haniza Abdul Wahat, Siti Noormi Alias, Mohamad Sazali Shaari

Abstract:

This study prepares the groundwork for the development of a strategic model and instrument for workplace inclusivity for deaf and hard-of-hearing employees in Malaysia. In the past, scholars have discussed inclusivity of workplaces to the extent to which employees feel they are significantly part of the organizational processes. Such processes include access to information, connectedness to colleagues and team members as well as their ability to participate in and influence decision-making processes. A qualitative study was conducted to explore on experiences of employed deaf and hard-of-hearing employees in a few Malaysian organizations. Data were collected from two focus group discussions involving male and female deaf and hard of hearing employees. Three in-depth interviews were also conducted with employer representatives. Generated themes highlighted individual, and team approaches towards crafting workplace inclusivity for deaf and hard of hearing employees in Malaysia. The adaptiveness of deaf and hard-of-hearing employees and social inclusion by colleagues were among the emerged sub-themes. This study allowed the researchers to further develop workplace inclusivity instruments and models for the benefit of deaf and hard of hearing Malaysian employees, as well as their employers.

Keywords: deaf, hard of hearing, workplace inclusivity, disabilities

Procedia PDF Downloads 174

Authors: Minakshi Jain, I. P. Singh

Abstract:

Due to the era of outstanding technology and modern lifestyle, human beings are debasing their physical, psychological, and mental well-being. The effect of this leads to a trail of chronic diseases like anxiety, loneliness, and depression, especially in children and young adults. This is visible in individuals who suffer from clinical depression, which leads to impaired mood and distortion of cognition, particularly in children. The Members of the WHO European Region made a declaration to provisioning each child with access to healthy and safe environments by 2020, and the decision was taken at the Conference on Environment and Health in 2010 as an initiative to improve access to green spaces in cities which provides universal access for quality spaces for both social interaction and human well-being. In line with this, the paper aims to establish a prospective study on linking green spaces and CBT (Cognitive behavior therapy) in order to treat disorders with reference to children and young adults. A questionnaire was adopted to explore the possibility of green spaces as additive measures for the existing modes of therapy. The results adapted from the questionnaire show that certain species of vegetation have a significant effect in enhancing effective mental well-being.

Keywords: CBT, therapeutic gardens UCLA loneliness scale, anxiety, depression, green spaces, biophilia, environmental psychology

Procedia PDF Downloads 46

Authors: S. A. El-Marasy, S. A. El Awdan, R. M. Abd-Elsalam

Abstract:

This study aimed to investigate the possible neuroprotective effect of chrysin on thioacetamide (TAA)-induced hepatic encephalopathy in rats. Also, the effect of chrysin on motor impairment, cognitive deficits, oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, apoptosis and histopathological damage was assessed. Male Wistar rats were randomly allocated into five groups. The first group received the vehicle (distilled water) for 21 days and is considered as normal group. While the second one received intraperitoneal dose of TAA (200 mg/kg) at three alternative days during the third week of the experiment to induce HE and is considered as control group. The other three groups were orally administered chrysin for 21 days (25, 50, 100 mg/kg) and starting from day 17; rats received intraperitoneal dose of TAA (200 mg/kg) at three alternative days. Then behavioral, biochemical, histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses were assessed. Then behavioral, biochemical, histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses were assessed. Chrysin reversed TAA-induced motor coordination in rotarod test, cognitive deficits in object recognition test (ORT) and attenuated serum ammonia, hepatic liver enzymes, reduced malondialdehyde (MDA), elevated reduced glutathione (GSH), reduced nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) brain contents. Chrysin administration also reduced Toll-4 receptor (TLR-4) gene expression, caspase-3 protein expression, hepatic necrosis and astrocyte swelling. This study depicts that chrysin exerted neuroprotective effect in TAA-induced HE rats, evidenced by improvement of cognitive deficits, motor incoordination and histopathological changes such as astrocyte swelling and vacuolization; hallmarks in HE, via reducing hyperammonemia, ameliorating hepatic function, in addition to its anti-oxidant, inactivation of TLR-4/NF-κB inflammatory pathway, and anti-apoptotic effects.

Keywords: chrysin, hepatic encephalopathy, oxidative stress, rats, thioacetamide, TLR4/NF-κB pathway

Procedia PDF Downloads 161

Authors: Bel G Raggad

Abstract:

An e-Learning setting is a distributed computing environment where information resources can be connected to any public network. Public networks are very unsecure which can compromise the reliability of an e-Learning environment. This study is only concerned with the intrusion detection aspect of e-Learning security and how incident responses are planned. The literature reported great advances in intrusion detection system (ids) but neglected to study an important ids weakness: suspected events are detected but an intrusion is not determined because it is not defined in ids databases. We propose an incident response generator (DIRG) that produces incident responses when the working ids system suspects an event that does not correspond to a known intrusion. Data involved in intrusion detection when ample uncertainty is present is often not suitable to formal statistical models including Bayesian. We instead adopt Dempster and Shafer theory to process intrusion data for the unknown event. The DIRG engine transforms data into a belief structure using incident scenarios deduced by the security administrator. Belief values associated with various incident scenarios are then derived and evaluated to choose the most appropriate scenario for which an automatic incident response is generated. This article provides a numerical example demonstrating the working of the DIRG system.

Keywords: decision support system, distributed computing, e-Learning security, incident response, intrusion detection, security risk, statefull inspection

Procedia PDF Downloads 437