Search results for: network society

Authors: Lamin B Ceesay, Cecilia Rossignoli

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Inter-organizational collaboration is a growing phenomenon in both research and practice. The partnership between organizations enables firms to leverage external resources, experiences, and technology that lie with other firms. This collaborative practice is a source of improved business model performance, technological advancement, and increased competitive advantage for firms. However, the competitive intents, and even diverse institutional logics of firms, make inter-firm innovation-based partnership even more complex, and its governance more challenging. The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic review of research linking the inter-organizational relationship of firms with their innovation practice and specify the different project management issues and gaps addressed in previous research. To do this, we employed a systematic review of the literature on inter-organizational innovation using two complementary scholarly databases - ScienceDirect and Web of Science (WoS). Article scoping relies on the combination of keywords based on similar terms used in the literature:(1) inter-organizational relationship, (2) business network, (3) inter-firm project, and (4) innovation network. These searches were conducted in the title, abstract, and keywords of conceptual and empirical research papers done in English. Our search covers between 2010 to 2019. We applied several exclusion criteria including Papers published outside the years under the review, papers in a language other than English, papers neither listed in WoS nor ScienceDirect and papers that are not sharply related to the inter-organizational innovation-based partnership were removed. After all relevant search criteria were applied, a final list of 84 papers constitutes the data for this review. Our review revealed an increasing evolution of inter-organizational relationship research during the period under the review. The descriptive analysis of papers according to Journal outlets finds that International Journal of Project Management (IJPM), Journal of Industrial Marketing, Journal of Business Research (JBR), etc. are the leading journal outlets for research in the inter-organizational innovation project. The review also finds that Qualitative methods and quantitative approaches respectively are the leading research methods adopted by scholars in the field. However, literature review and conceptual papers constitute the least in the field. During the content analysis of the selected papers, we read the content of each paper and found that the selected papers try to address one of the three phenomena in inter-organizational innovation research: (1) project antecedents; (2) project management and (3) project performance outcomes. We found that these categories are not mutually exclusive, but rather interdependent. This categorization also helped us to organize the fragmented literature in the field. While a significant percentage of the literature discussed project management issues, we found fewer extant literature on project antecedents and performance. As a result of this, we organized the future research agenda addressed in several papers by linking them with the under-researched themes in the field, thus providing great potential to advance future research agenda especially, in the under-researched themes in the field. Finally, our paper reveals that research on inter-organizational innovation project is generally fragmented which hinders a better understanding of the field. Thus, this paper contributes to the understanding of the field by organizing and discussing the extant literature to advance the theory and application of inter-organizational relationship.

Keywords: inter-organizational relationship, inter-firm collaboration, innovation projects, project management, systematic review

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Authors: Susan Lewis

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The assessment of learning outcomes at the program level has attracted much international interest from the perspectives of quality assurance and ongoing curricular redesign and renewal. This paper examines program-level learning outcomes in the field of music and technology, an area of study that has seen an explosion in program development over the past fifteen years. The Audio Engineering Society (AES) maintains an online directory of educational institutions worldwide, yielding the most comprehensive inventory of programs and courses in music and technology. The inventory includes courses, programs, and degrees in music and technology, music and computer science, music production, and the music industry. This paper focuses on published student learning outcomes for undergraduate degrees in music and technology and analyses commonalities at institutions in North America, the United Kingdom, and Europe. The results of a survey of student learning outcomes at twenty institutions indicates a focus on three distinct student learning outcomes: (1) cross-disciplinary knowledge in the fields of music and technology; (2) the practical application of training through the professional industry; and (3) the acquisition of skills in communication and collaboration. The paper then analyses assessment mechanisms for tracking student learning and achievement of learning outcomes at these institutions. The results indicate highly variable assessment practices. Conclusions offer recommendations for enhancing assessment techniques and better communicating learning outcomes to students.

Keywords: quality assurance, student learning; learning outcomes, music and technology

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Authors: Anat Yaron Antar, Tomer Einat

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This study explores the effects of the imprisonment of women together with females with mental disorders on the well-being of the former both during imprisonment and after their release from prison. Based on in-depth interviews with 22 women ex-prisoners who had been imprisoned for a period of at least two years in the single Israeli female correctional facility, Neve Tirza Prison, and released one to three months before the initiation of the study to a community-based agency managed by the Israeli Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority, and based on a qualitative, constructive strategy. We found that: (i) mentally ill prisoners’ conduct creates severe feelings of stress and discomfort among many of the prisoners without a mental disorder prisoners; (ii) The intimate and often long-term encounters with prisoners with a mental illness lead to increased feelings of distress, helplessness, fear, and frustration among many of the women prisoners; (iii) the damaging encounters between women prisoners and mentally-ill prisoners harmed the reintegration of the formers into society after release, and (iv) The women ex-prisoners lacked the basic mental, cognitive, and social tools necessary for dealing with female inmates with a mental illness and had received no psychological or emotional support from the prison personnel. Consequently, they suffered – and still suffer – from traumatic and upsetting memories Our findings led us to conclude that women prisoners should be imprisoned separately from female prisoners with mental disorders or be offered a wide range of psychological and emotional coping tools as well as various rehabilitative treatment programs.

Keywords: women, prisoners, mentally ill, health

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Authors: Hasrat Arjjumend, Sabiha Alam

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The Nagoya Protocol is landmark international legislation governing access to genetic resources and benefit sharing from utilization of genetic resource and traditional knowledge. The field implications of the international law have been assessed by surveying academic/ research institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs) and concerned individuals, who gave their opinions on whether the provider parties (usually developing countries) would ensure effective participation of Indigenous people and local communities (ILCs) in establishing the mechanisms to inform the potential users of traditional knowledge (TK) about their obligations under art. 12.2 of Nagoya Protocol. First of all, involvement and participation of ILCs in suggested clearing-house mechanisms of the Parties are seldom witnessed. Secondly, as respondents expressed, it is doubtful that developing countries would ensure effective participation of ILCs in establishing the mechanisms to inform the potential users of TK about their obligations. Yet, as most of ILCs speak and understand local or indigenous languages, whether the Nagoya Protocol provides or not, it is a felt need that the Parties should disclose information in a language understandable to ILCs. Alternative opinions indicate that if TK held by ILCs is disclosed, the value is gone. Therefore, it should be protected by the domestic law first and should be disclosed then.

Keywords: genetic resources, indigenous people, language, Nagoya protocol, participation, traditional knowledge

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Authors: Zeliha Sayar

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Central banks all over the world appear to be focusing first and foremost on retail central bank digital currency CBDC), i.e., digital cash/money. This approach is predicated on the belief that the use of cash has decreased, owing primarily to technological advancements and pandemic restrictions, and that a suitable foundation for the transition to a cashless society has been revealed. This study aims to contribute to the debate over whether digital money/CBDC can be a substitute or supplement to physical cash by examining the potential effects on cash demand. For this reason, this paper compares two emerging countries, Turkey, and Thailand, to demystify the impact of e-payment and COVID-19 restrictions on cash demand by employing fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS), dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS), and the canonical cointegrating regression (CCR). The currency in circulation in two emerging countries, Turkey and Thailand, was examined in order to estimate the elasticity of different types of retail payments. The results demonstrate that real internet and mobile, cart, contactless payment, and e-money are long-term determinants of real cash demand in these two developing countries. Furthermore, with the exception of contactless payments in Turkey, there is a positive relationship between the currency in circulation and the various types of retail payments. According to findings, COVID-19 restrictions encourage the demand for cash, resulting in cash hoarding.

Keywords: CCR, DOLS, e-money, FMOLS, real cash

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Authors: Huang Yajing

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Multimodal discourse refers to the phenomenon of using various senses such as hearing, vision, and touch to communicate through various means and symbolic resources such as language, images, sounds, and movements. With the development of modern technology and multimedia, language and technology have become inseparable, and foreign language teaching is becoming more and more modal. Teacher-student communication resorts to multiple senses and uses multiple symbol systems to construct and interpret meaning. The classroom is a semiotic space where multimodal discourses are intertwined. College English multi-modal teaching is to rationally utilize traditional teaching methods while mobilizing and coordinating various modern teaching methods to form a joint force to promote teaching and learning. Multimodal teaching makes full and reasonable use of various meaning resources and can maximize the advantages of multimedia and network environments. Based upon the above theories about multimodal discourse and multimedia technology, the present paper will propose a multi-modal teaching model for college English in China.

Keywords: multimodal discourse, multimedia technology, English education, applied linguistics

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Authors: Karim Farahmandfar, Hamidolah Izadi, Mohammadreza Rezaei, Amin Ardali, Ebrahim Goshtasbi Rad, Khosro Jafarpoor

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Statistics illustrates that the higher amount of annual energy consumption is related to surmounting the demand in buildings. Therefore, it is vital to economize the energy consumption and also find the solution with regard to this issue. One of the systems for the sake of heating the building is floor heating. As a matter of fact, floor heating performance is based on convection and radiation. Actually, in addition to creating a favorable heating condition, this method leads to energy saving. It is the goal of this article to outline the constructal theory and introduce the optimization method in branch networks for floor heating. There are several steps in order to gain this purpose. First of all, the pressure drop through the two points of the network is calculated. This pressure drop is as a function of pipes diameter and other parameters. After that, the amount of heat transfer is determined. Consequently, as a result of the combination of these two functions, the final function will be determined. It is necessary to mention that flow is laminar.

Keywords: constructal theory, optimization, floor heating system, turbulent flow

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Authors: Jasmine Adela Mutang, Rosnah Ismail, Chua Bee Seok, Ferlis Bahari, Lailawati Madlan, Walton Wider, Rickless Das

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Waste projection is increasing and most landfills in Malaysia are running out of space. Due to that, waste management is now becoming a major challenge. The most sustainable solution is by practicing sustainable practices such as recycling. Since 1993 the government has launched several recycling campaigns and implemented the National Recycling Policy. However, public participation is still very low. Only 10.5% of solid waste was recycled up to now which is far below than of in developed countries. Nevertheless the government is optimistic that the target of 22% recycling by 2020 will be achieved if there is a positive flow pattern in sustainable practices in particular recycling behavior among Malaysian. Understanding public motivations towards recycling domestic waste are important to improve current recycling rate. Thus this study attempts to identify what are the possible motivations and hindrances for the public to recycle. Open-ended questions format were administered to 484 people in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Two specific questions we asked to explore their general determinants and barriers in practicing recycling: “What motivates you to recycle?” and “What are the barriers you encountered in doing recycling activities?” Thematic analysis was conducted on the open-ended questions in which themes were created with the raw comments. It was found that the underlying recycling motivations are awareness’ towards the environment, benefits to the society and individual, and social influence. Non participations are influence by attitudes, commitment, facilities, knowledge, inconvenience, and enforcement.

Keywords: recycling motivation, recycling barrier, sustainable, household waste

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Authors: Mona Lisa M. Oliveira, Nara A. Policarpo, Ana Luiza B. P. Barros, Carla A. Silva

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Selective catalytic reduction systems for nitrogen oxides reduction by ammonia has been the chosen technology by most of diesel vehicle (i.e. bus and truck) manufacturers in Brazil, as also in Europe. Furthermore, at some conditions, over-stoichiometric ammonia availability is also needed that increases the NH₃ slips even more. Ammonia (NH₃) by this vehicle exhaust aftertreatment system provides a maximum efficiency of NOx removal if a significant amount of NH₃ is stored on its catalyst surface. In the other words, the practice shows that slightly less than 100% of the NOx conversion is usually targeted, so that the aqueous urea solution hydrolyzes to NH₃ via other species formation, under relatively low temperatures. This paper presents a model based on neural networks integrated with a road vehicle simulator that allows to estimate NH₃-slip emission factors for different driving conditions and patterns. The proposed model generates high NH₃slips which are not also limited in Brazil, but more efforts needed to be made to elucidate the contribution of vehicle-emitted NH₃ to the urban atmosphere.

Keywords: ammonia slip, neural-network, vehicles emissions, SCR-NOx

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Authors: Expedito Pinto De Paula Junior

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Current systems such as artificial satellites, airplanes, automobiles, turbines, power systems and air traffic controls are becoming increasingly more complex and/or highly integrated as defined in SAE-ARP-4754A (Society Automotive Engineering - Certification considerations for highly-integrated or complex aircraft systems standard). Among other processes, the development of such systems requires careful Change and Configuration Management (CCM) to establish and maintain product integrity. Understand the maturity of CCM process based in historical approach is crucial for better implementation in hardware and software lifecycle. The sense of work organization, in all fields of development is directly related to the order and interrelation of the parties, changes in time, and record of these changes. Generally, is observed that engineers, administrators and managers invest more time in technical activities than in organization of work. More these professionals are focused in solving complex problems with a purely technical bias. CCM process is fundamental for development, production and operation of new products specially in the safety critical systems. The objective of this paper is open a discussion about the historical revision based in standards focus of CCM around the world in order to understand and reflect the importance across the years, the contribution of this process for technology evolution, to understand the mature of organizations in the system lifecycle project and the benefits of CCM to avoid errors and mistakes during the Lifecycle Product.

Keywords: changes, configuration management, historical, revision

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Authors: Alexander Hudson, Shaogang Gong

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Structure determination is key to understanding protein function at a molecular level. Whilst significant advances have been made in predicting structure and function from amino acid sequence, researchers must still rely on expensive, time-consuming analytical methods to visualise detailed protein conformation. In this study, we demonstrate that it is possible to make accurate (≥80%) predictions of protein class and architecture from structures determined at low (>3A) resolution, using a deep convolutional neural network trained on high-resolution (≤3A) structures represented as 2D matrices. Thus, we provide proof of concept for high-speed, low-cost protein structure classification at low resolution, and a basis for extension to prediction of function. We investigate the impact of the input representation on classification performance, showing that side-chain information may not be necessary for fine-grained structure predictions. Finally, we confirm that high resolution, low-resolution and NMR-determined structures inhabit a common feature space, and thus provide a theoretical foundation for boosting with single-image super-resolution.

Keywords: transfer learning, protein distance maps, protein structure classification, neural networks

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Authors: M. A. Ansari, A. Hussain, A. Uddin

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A side weir is a flow diversion structure provided in the side wall of a channel to divert water from the main channel to a branch channel. The trapezoidal labyrinth weir is a special type of weir in which crest length of the weir is increased to pass higher discharge. Experimental and numerical studies related to the coefficient of discharge of trapezoidal labyrinth weir in an open channel have been presented in the present study. Group Method of Data Handling (GMDH) with the transfer function of quadratic polynomial has been used to predict the coefficient of discharge for the side trapezoidal labyrinth weir. A new model is developed for coefficient of discharge of labyrinth weir by regression method. Generalized models for predicting the coefficient of discharge for labyrinth weir using Group Method of Data Handling (GMDH) network have also been developed. The prediction based on GMDH model is more satisfactory than those given by traditional regression equations.

Keywords: discharge coefficient, group method of data handling, open channel, side labyrinth weir

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Authors: Hanbey Hazar, Hakan Gul

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In this study; piston, exhaust, and suction valves of a diesel engine were coated in 300 mm thickness with Tungsten Carbide (WC) by using the HVOF coating method. Mathematical modeling of a coated and uncoated (standardized) engine was performed by using ANN (Artificial Neural Networks). The purpose was to decrease the number of repetitions of tests and reduce the test cost through mathematical modeling of engines by using ANN. The results obtained from the tests were entered in ANN and therefore engines' values at all speeds were estimated. Results obtained from the tests were compared with those obtained from ANN and they were observed to be compatible. It was also observed that, with thermal barrier coating, hydrocarbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), and smoke density values of the diesel engine decreased; but nitrogen oxides (NOx) increased. Furthermore, it was determined that results obtained through mathematical modeling by means of ANN reduced the number of test repetitions. Therefore, it was understood that time, fuel and labor could be saved in this way.

Keywords: Artificial Neural Network, Diesel Engine, Mathematical Modelling, Thermal Barrier Coating

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Authors: Ayush Shrivastava, Arpit Chaudhary, Devang Kulshreshtha, Vibhav Prakash Singh, Rajeev Srivastava

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Early diagnosis of breast cancer can improve the survival rate by detecting cancer at an early stage. Breast region segmentation is an essential step in the analysis of digital mammograms. Accurate image segmentation leads to better detection of cancer. It aims at separating out Region of Interest (ROI) from rest of the image. The procedure begins with removal of labels, annotations and tags from the mammographic image using morphological opening method. Pectoral Muscle Sliding Window Algorithm (PMSWA) is used for removal of pectoral muscle from mammograms which is necessary as the intensity values of pectoral muscles are similar to that of ROI which makes it difficult to separate out. After removing the pectoral muscle, Dispersed Region Growing Algorithm (DRGA) is used for segmentation of mammogram which disperses seeds in different regions instead of a single bright region. To demonstrate the validity of our segmentation method, 322 mammographic images from Mammographic Image Analysis Society (MIAS) database are used. The dataset contains medio-lateral oblique (MLO) view of mammograms. Experimental results on MIAS dataset show the effectiveness of our proposed method.

Keywords: CAD, dispersed region growing algorithm (DRGA), image segmentation, mammography, pectoral muscle sliding window algorithm (PMSWA)

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Authors: Lama Yaseen, Nourah Al-Hosain

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A Multi-modal system in urban mobility is an essential framework for an optimized urban transport network. Many cities are still heavily dependent on vehicle transportation, dominantly using conventional fuel-based cars for daily travel. With the reliance on motorized vehicles in large cities such as Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia, traffic congestion is eminent, which ultimately results in an increase in road emissions and loss of time. Saudi Arabia plans to undergo a massive transformation in mobility infrastructure and urban greening projects, including introducing public transport and other massive urban greening infrastructures that enable alternative mobility options. This paper uses a Geographic Information System (GIS) approach that analyzes the accessibility of current and planned public transport stations and how they intertwine with massive urban greening projects that may play a role as an enabler of micro-mobility and walk-ability options in the city.

Keywords: urban development, urban mobility, sustainable mobility, Middle East

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Authors: Deike Janssen

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In the scenery of the Tyrolean mountains, at an altitude of 1300 meters, stands a building. Residents and activists call it a prison. However, it is not a prison -according to authorities, it is a 'Return Counseling Facility' where migrants and refugees should be "motivated" to return "voluntary" to their countries of origin. This paper argues that the geographical location of the camp functions as a site of exclusion, isolation, and coercion where no one can decide “voluntary” to return, but where people are brought to despair to leave Austria. Through a qualitative case study, this paper documents the heavy impact of offshore detention on the mental, physical and social state of the residents and a variety of human rights problems in the centre. Different developments at the Return Counselling Facility and the law that back up the centre uncover a worrying dynamic that deliberately accepts human rights problems in order to enforce borders, a policy that disregards humanitarian, legal, and ethical stands in order to deport people at all hazards. It, therefore, can be seen as a creative and ultimate exercise of state power, which uses isolated locations to control migration. While the analysis revises the micro and macro implications of the facility and, therefore, the legal and political facets, it also sheds light on the role of the civil society, which tries to increase through constant and collective efforts the human rights efforts of the government.

Keywords: deportation, human rights, migration, refugee detention, voluntary return

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Authors: Wildan Syafitri

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The main purpose of the development is to embody public welfare. Its indication is shown by the increasing of the public prosperity in which it will be related to the consumption level as a consequence of the increasing of public income. One of the government’s efforts to increase public welfare is to create development equity in order to alleviate poor people. Poverty’s problem is not merely about the number and percentage of the poor people, but also it includes the gap and severity of poverty.the analysis method used is Benefit Incidence Analysis (BIA) that is an analysis method used to disclose the impact of government policy or individual access based on the income distribution in society. Further, the finding of the study revealed is that the highest number of the poor people in the village is those who are unemployed and have family members who are still in the Junior High School. The income distribution calculation shows a fairly good budget allocation applied with good mass ratio that is 0.31. In addition, the finding of this study also discloses that Indonesian Government policy to subsidize education cost for Elementary and Junior High School students has reached the right target. It is indicated by more benefits received by Elementary and Junior High School students who are poor and very poor than other income group.

Keywords: benefit incidence analysis, budget allocation, poverty, education

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Authors: Misbah Javaid, Vladimir Estivill-Castro, Rene Hexel

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The field of robotics is advancing rapidly to the point where robots have become an integral part of the modern society. These robots collaborate and contribute productively with humans and compensate some shortcomings from human abilities and complement them with their skills. Effective teamwork of humans and robots demands to investigate the critical issue of trust. The field of human-computer interaction (HCI) has already examined trust humans place in technical systems mostly on issues like reliability and accuracy of performance. Early work in the area of expert systems suggested that automatic generation of explanations improved trust and acceptability of these systems. In this work, we augmented a robot with the user-invoked explanation generation proficiency. To measure explanations effect on human’s level of trust, we collected subjective survey measures and behavioral data in a human-robot team task into an interactive, adversarial and partial information environment. The results showed that with the explanation capability humans not only understand and recognize robot as an expert team partner. But, it was also observed that human's learning and human-robot team performance also significantly improved because of the meaningful interaction with the robot in the human-robot team. Moreover, by observing distinctive outcomes, we expect our research outcomes will also provide insights into further improvement of human-robot trustworthy relationships.

Keywords: explanation interface, adversaries, partial observability, trust building

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Authors: Asma Righi

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After the global financial crisis of 2008, interest in ethical economics increased, particularly in the field of finance in general and commercial banks in particular. Indeed, it has become imperative for them to move from an institution that aims to make a profit to a community partner that takes the environmental aspect into account in its funding, rationalizes its decisions and adheres to ethics in its dealings. This leads it to the need of adopting the concept of ethical finance and standing on its most important principles and dimensions to realize profits on the one hand and to serve its society and its economy on the other hand. The objective of this research is centered on knowing the reality of the Algerian commercial banks’ adoption of the dimensions and principles of ethical finance. The quantitative methodology used is based on a questionnaire survey of twenty-four banking agencies in the states of Bordj Bou Arreridj and Setif. The data obtained were processed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) program. This research led to two main results: first, the author observed a limited application of the principles of ethical finance in commercial banks active in Algeria. This application is particularly in line with the implementation of the directives of the Central Bank and the imposed monetary policy. Second, the results showed that there is a significant difference in the application of ethical financial dimensions and principles between government and foreign banks.

Keywords: Algerian commercial banks, ethical banking, ethical finance, socially responsible investment

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Authors: Damir Počakal

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Continental part Croatia is exposed, mainly in the summer months, to the frequent occurrence of severe thunderstorms and hail. In the 1960s, aiming to protect and reduce the damage, an operational hail suppression system was introduced in that area. The current protected area is 26800 km2 and has about 580 hail suppression stations (rockets and ground generators) which are managed with 8 radar centres (S-band radars). In order to obtain objective and precise hailstone measurement for different research studies, hailpads were installed on all this stations in 2001. Additionally the dense hailpad network with the dimensions of 20 km x 30 km (1 hailpad per 4 km2), was established in the area with the highest average number of days with hail in Croatia in 2002. This paper presents analysis of relation between radar measured parameters of Cb cells in the time of hail fall with physical parameters of hail (max. diameter, number of hail stones and kinetic energy) measured on hailpads in period 2002 -2014. In addition are compared radar parameters of Cb cells with and without hail on the ground located at the same time over the polygon area.

Keywords: Cb cell, hail, radar, hailpad

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Authors: Muftahu Jibirin Salihu, Hazri Jamil

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The persisting challenge of access and enrolment to higher education in commonwealth countries has been reported in several studies, including reports of the international organization such as World Bank, UNESCO among others however from the macro perspective. The overarching aim of this study is to examine alternative policy practices towards improving access to university education in Nigeria at meso level of policy practice from evidence base policy studies using one university as a case. The study adopted a qualitative approach to gain insightful understanding on the issue of the study employing a semi-structure interview and policy documents as the means for obtaining the data and other relevant information for the study. The participants of the study were purposively chosen which comprise of a number of individuals from the selected university and other related organization which responsible for the policies development and implementation of Nigerian higher education system. From the findings of the study, several initiatives have been taken at meso level to address this challenge including the introduction of the University Matriculation Program as an alternative route for enhancing to access to the university education. However, the study further provided a number of recommendations which aimed at improving access to university education such as improving the entry requirements, society orientation on university education and the issue of ranking of certificate among the Nigerian higher institutions of learning.

Keywords: policy practice, access, enrolment, university, education, Nigeria

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Authors: Uma Maheshwari V., Rajanikanth Aluvalu, Kumar Gautam

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The COVID-19 disease is a highly contagious viral infection with major worldwide health implications. The global economy suffers as a result of COVID. The spread of this pandemic disease can be slowed if positive patients are found early. COVID-19 disease prediction is beneficial for identifying patients' health problems that are at risk for COVID. Deep learning and machine learning algorithms for COVID prediction using X-rays have the potential to be extremely useful in solving the scarcity of doctors and clinicians in remote places. In this paper, a convolutional neural network (CNN) with deep layers is presented for recognizing COVID-19 patients using real-world datasets. We gathered around 6000 X-ray scan images from various sources and split them into two categories: normal and COVID-impacted. Our model examines chest X-ray images to recognize such patients. Because X-rays are commonly available and affordable, our findings show that X-ray analysis is effective in COVID diagnosis. The predictions performed well, with an average accuracy of 99% on training photographs and 88% on X-ray test images.

Keywords: deep CNN, COVID–19 analysis, feature extraction, feature map, accuracy

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Authors: Roberta Mugellesi Dow

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As the climate crisis becomes unignorable, it is imperative that new services are developed addressing not only the needs of customers but also taking into account its impact on the environment. The Telecommunication and Integrated Application (TIA) Directorate of ESA is supporting the green transition with particular attention to the sustainable mobility.“Accelerating the shift to sustainable and smart mobility” is at the core of the European Green Deal strategy, which seeks a 90% reduction in related emissions by 2050 . Transforming the way that people and goods move is essential to increasing mobility while decreasing environmental impact, and transport must be considered holistically to produce a shared vision of green intermodal mobility. The use of space technologies, integrated with terrestrial technologies, is an enabler of smarter traffic management and increased transport efficiency for automated and connected multimodal mobility. Satellite connectivity, including future 5G networks, and digital technologies such as Digital Twin, AI, Machine Learning, and cloud-based applications are key enablers of sustainable mobility.SatCom is essential to ensure that connectivity is ubiquitously available, even in remote and rural areas, or in case of a failure, by the convergence of terrestrial and SatCom connectivity networks, This is especially crucial when there are risks of network failures or cyber-attacks targeting terrestrial communication. SatCom ensures communication network robustness and resilience. The combination of terrestrial and satellite communication networks is making possible intelligent and ubiquitous V2X systems and PNT services with significantly enhanced reliability and security, hyper-fast wireless access, as well as much seamless communication coverage. SatNav is essential in providing accurate tracking and tracing capabilities for automated vehicles and in guiding them to target locations. SatNav can also enable location-based services like car sharing applications, parking assistance, and fare payment. In addition to GNSS receivers, wireless connections, radar, lidar, and other installed sensors can enable automated vehicles to monitor surroundings, to ‘talk to each other’ and with infrastructure in real-time, and to respond to changes instantaneously. SatEO can be used to provide the maps required by the traffic management, as well as evaluate the conditions on the ground, assess changes and provide key data for monitoring and forecasting air pollution and other important parameters. Earth Observation derived data are used to provide meteorological information such as wind speed and direction, humidity, and others that must be considered into models contributing to traffic management services. The paper will provide examples of services and applications that have been developed aiming to identify innovative solutions and new business models that are allowed by new digital technologies engaging space and non space ecosystem together to deliver value and providing innovative, greener solutions in the mobility sector. Examples include Connected Autonomous Vehicles, electric vehicles, green logistics, and others. For the technologies relevant are the hybrid satcom and 5G providing ubiquitous coverage, IoT integration with non space technologies, as well as navigation, PNT technology, and other space data.

Keywords: sustainability, connectivity, mobility, satellites

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Authors: Mark N. Abello, Betina Velanie L. Cruz, Angelo Joachim D. C. De Castro, Arnel A. Diego, John Ezequel V. Murillo

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Embalmers are widely recognized as someone who mends the cadavers, but behind that is a great deal of work. These professionals are competent in physiology, chemicals, and cosmetics. Another is that such professionals face cadavers day-to-day. Given this background, the researchers intended to find out the lived experience of embalmers. The purpose of the present study is to discover the essence of the work of these professionals, to determine factors that influence their work, the depths of their life and on how the occupation affects upon physical, emotional-mental, spiritual, moral and social aspects. The researchers used the Consensual Qualitative Research, and eight embalmers, seven male and one female, from Manila and Bulacan were interviewed using open-ended questions and were used to triangulate the results. A primary research team conducted the consensus of domains, and an external auditor reviewed the results. A personal data sheet was also used, this helped the researchers group the respondents according to demographic profile. The results of the consensual qualitative research investigation revealed the four core components of the lived experience of embalmers which are motivation, struggles, acceptance, and contentment. The results revealed core components that play an important role in their everyday lives as an embalmer, daily hardships, and source of their pleasures. The present study will help future researchers, embalmers, and society.

Keywords: embalmers, consensual qualitative research, lived experience, embalming

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Authors: Mathias Ebot, Päivi Harinen

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This article focuses on challenges of parenthood for Sub-Saharan African fathers in Finland. In this analysis Finland represents a Nordic welfare society where family relationships are strongly guided by national family policies and discourses. These policies are based on both traditional ideas of a proper Finnish family, as well as on the contemporary waves of female liberation and emphasis on children’s rights. We analyze how especially Cameroonian fathers perceive their parenthood positions and how they characterize and frame their fathering experiences in relation to the mainstream sociopolitical, cultural and national representations of fatherhood in Finland. The analysis is based on interviews and narrative reports collected among Cameroonian fathers living in Finland with their African spouses. The scrutiny shows that in the context where the mainstream cultural and national family representation is created by equality between parents and also between parents and their children, and where “good fatherhood” is created by embodied presence and warm relationships with children these fathers have difficulties: They have to fulfill another fatherhood duty – bread-winning – and thus ensure their labor possibilities all the time, from very marginalized positions of the labor market. When comparing their fatherhood position with the one in Cameroon they also feel embarrassed as the Finnish educational system teaches and encourages their children to challenge their authority as up-raising adults, which in Cameroon could not be possible.

Keywords: Cameroonian fathers, perception, fathering experiences, Finland

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Authors: Manirath Wongsim

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AIS plays an important role in business management, strategic and can provide assistance in all phases of decision making. Thus, many organisations needs to be seen as well adopting AIS, which is critical to a company in order to organise, manage and operate process in all sections. In order to implement AIS successfully, it is important to understand the underlying factors that influence the AIS adoption. Therefore, this research intends to study this perspective of factors influence and impact on AIS adoption’s success. The model has been designed to illustrate factors influences in AIS adoption. It also attempts to identify the critical success factors that organisations should focus on, to ensure the adoption on accounting process. This framework will be developed from case studies by collecting qualitative and quantitative data. Case study and survey methodology were adopted for this research. Case studies in two Thai- organisations were carried out. The results of the two main case studies suggested 9 factors that may have impact on in AIS adoption. Survey instrument was developed based on the findings from case studies. Two large-scale surveys were sent to selected members of Thailand Accountant, and Thailand Computer Society to further develop and test the research framework. The top three critical factors for ensuring AIS adoption were: top management commitment, steering committees, and Technical capability of AIS personnel. That is, it is now clear which factors impact in AIS adoption, and which of those factors are critical success factors for ensuring AIS adoption successes

Keywords: accounting information system, accounting information systems adoption, and inflecting AIS adoption

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Authors: Rahasanica Nariswari Pratiwi, Maulana Syaiful Haq

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The role of accounting in Islamic Banking is not only as economic reality but also as religious reality. Religious reality constructed by religious value in annual report of Islamic Bank. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to understand and analyze the existence of religious values by form of photographs in annual report, and to analyze the reason of religious values disclosure in annual report. Ontologically, this study is build on a belief that annual report is a communication media to show the ways Islamic Banks express adherence to sharia principle. The research has done by analyzing the photographs in annual report of Bank Syariah Mandiri (BSM), Bank Muamalat Indonesia (BMI), Bank Nasional Indonesia (BNI) Syariah, Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) Syariah, and Bank Central Asia (BCA) Syariah in Indonesia. This study is qualitative research, was carried out within interpretive paradigm using semiotic approach. By employing semiotic analysis, this research showed that annual report of Islamic Bank in Indonesia contained religious value by the form of its photographs. The results of this study also show that photographs in annual report of Islamic Banks in this research contained religious values. Furthermore, this study concludes that Islamic banks actually expressed religious reality and make them different from the other bank’s annual report which focuses only on economic reality. This indicates Islamic Banks obidience existence about responsibility, not only to the stakeholders but also to the society and Allah.

Keywords: Islamic banking, semiotics, accounting, annual report

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Authors: B. R. Campomanes-Alvarez, P. Quiros, B. Fernandez

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Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) is a machine-based process of decoding and transcribing oral speech. A typical ASR system receives acoustic input from a speaker or an audio file, analyzes it using algorithms, and produces an output in the form of a text. Some speech recognition systems use Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) to deal with the temporal variability of speech and Gaussian Mixture Models (GMMs) to determine how well each state of each HMM fits a short window of frames of coefficients that represents the acoustic input. Another way to evaluate the fit is to use a feed-forward neural network that takes several frames of coefficients as input and produces posterior probabilities over HMM states as output. Deep neural networks (DNNs) that have many hidden layers and are trained using new methods have been shown to outperform GMMs on a variety of speech recognition systems. Acoustic models for state-of-the-art ASR systems are usually training on massive amounts of data. However, audio files with their corresponding transcriptions can be difficult to obtain, especially in the Spanish language. Hence, in the case of these low-resource scenarios, building an ASR model is considered as a complex task due to the lack of labeled data, resulting in an under-trained system. Semi-supervised learning approaches arise as necessary tasks given the high cost of transcribing audio data. The main goal of this proposal is to develop a procedure based on acoustic semi-supervised learning for Spanish ASR systems by using DNNs. This semi-supervised learning approach consists of: (a) Training a seed ASR model with a DNN using a set of audios and their respective transcriptions. A DNN with a one-hidden-layer network was initialized; increasing the number of hidden layers in training, to a five. A refinement, which consisted of the weight matrix plus bias term and a Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) training were also performed. The objective function was the cross-entropy criterion. (b) Decoding/testing a set of unlabeled data with the obtained seed model. (c) Selecting a suitable subset of the validated data to retrain the seed model, thereby improving its performance on the target test set. To choose the most precise transcriptions, three confidence scores or metrics, regarding the lattice concept (based on the graph cost, the acoustic cost and a combination of both), was performed as selection technique. The performance of the ASR system will be calculated by means of the Word Error Rate (WER). The test dataset was renewed in order to extract the new transcriptions added to the training dataset. Some experiments were carried out in order to select the best ASR results. A comparison between a GMM-based model without retraining and the DNN proposed system was also made under the same conditions. Results showed that the semi-supervised ASR-model based on DNNs outperformed the GMM-model, in terms of WER, in all tested cases. The best result obtained an improvement of 6% relative WER. Hence, these promising results suggest that the proposed technique could be suitable for building ASR models in low-resource environments.

Keywords: automatic speech recognition, deep neural networks, machine learning, semi-supervised learning

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Authors: Po-Chun Wang, Yan-Ru Lai, Sophia I. C. Lin, Alvin W. Y. Su

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The Generative Theory of Tonal Music (GTTM) provides systematic approaches to recognizing local boundaries of music. The rules have been implemented in some automated melody segmentation algorithms. Besides, there are also deep learning methods with GTTM features applied to boundary detection tasks. However, these studies might face constraints such as a lack of or inconsistent label data. The GTTM database is currently the most widely used GTTM database, which includes manually labeled GTTM rules and local boundaries. Even so, we found some problems with these labels. They are sometimes discrepancies with GTTM rules. In addition, since it is labeled at different times by multiple musicians, they are not within the same scope in some cases. Therefore, in this paper, we examine this database with musicians from the aspect of classical music and relabel the scores. The relabeled database - GTTM Database v2.0 - will be released for academic research usage. Despite the experimental and statistical results showing that the relabeled database is more consistent, the improvement in boundary detection is not substantial. It seems that we need more clues than GTTM rules for boundary detection in the future.

Keywords: dataset, GTTM, local boundary, neural network

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Authors: Thanduxolo Nomngcoyiya, Simon M. Kang’ethe

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The aim of this article is to explore whether a relationship exists between traditional male circumcision mishaps and level of education in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, exemplified by an empirical case study. The study used qualitative paradigm; was exploratory in nature and used case study design that was descriptive and exploratory; and entailed interviewing twenty-eight (28) research participants comprising of eleven (11) newly initiated men and their families on one-on-one in-depth interviews, twelve (12) traditional nurses and community members in focus group discussions; and five (5) society key informants on key informant method. An interview guide served as a data collection instrument for focus group discussions, key informant method and in-depth interviews with unstructured open-ended questions. Findings indicated an array of traditional male circumcision (TMC) gaps, some of which were indicative of a relationship between the mishaps and level of education: the phenomenon of schooling became secondary in newly initiated men’s lives; TMC mishaps became a drawback towards the newly initiated men’s education progression; the newly initiated men are sacrificed at the altar of culture, and TMC mishaps ushered in socioeconomic setback to the newly initiated men. The study suggested that: TMC be developmental; TMC as a cultural endeavor be educational and human rights friendly; and the need to identify and integrate all other players with diverse specialties.

Keywords: culture, education for all, EFA, millennium development goals, traditional male circumcision

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