Search results for: update rule
512 Estimating Occupancy in Residential Context Using Bayesian Networks for Energy Management
Authors: Manar Amayri, Hussain Kazimi, Quoc-Dung Ngo, Stephane Ploix
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A general approach is proposed to determine occupant behavior (occupancy and activity) in residential buildings and to use these estimates for improved energy management. Occupant behaviour is modelled with a Bayesian Network in an unsupervised manner. This algorithm makes use of domain knowledge gathered via questionnaires and recorded sensor data for motion detection, power, and hot water consumption as well as indoor CO₂ concentration. Two case studies are presented which show the real world applicability of estimating occupant behaviour in this way. Furthermore, experiments integrating occupancy estimation and hot water production control show that energy efficiency can be increased by roughly 5% over known optimal control techniques and more than 25% over rule-based control while maintaining the same occupant comfort standards. The efficiency gains are strongly correlated with occupant behaviour and accuracy of the occupancy estimates.Keywords: energy, management, control, optimization, Bayesian methods, learning theory, sensor networks, knowledge modelling and knowledge based systems, artificial intelligence, buildings
Procedia PDF Downloads 371511 Fuzzy Inference System for Risk Assessment Evaluation of Wheat Flour Product Manufacturing Systems
Authors: Yas Barzegaar, Atrin Barzegar
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The aim of this research is to develop an intelligent system to analyze the risk level of wheat flour product manufacturing system. The model consists of five Fuzzy Inference Systems in two different layers to analyse the risk of a wheat flour product manufacturing system. The first layer of the model consists of four Fuzzy Inference Systems with three criteria. The output of each one of the Physical, Chemical, Biological and Environmental Failures will be the input of the final manufacturing systems. The proposed model based on Mamdani Fuzzy Inference Systems gives a performance ranking of wheat flour products manufacturing systems. The first step is obtaining data to identify the failure modes from expert’s opinions. The second step is the fuzzification process to convert crisp input to a fuzzy set., then the IF-then fuzzy rule applied through inference engine, and in the final step, the defuzzification process is applied to convert the fuzzy output into real numbers.Keywords: failure modes, fuzzy rules, fuzzy inference system, risk assessment
Procedia PDF Downloads 104510 A Mathematical Model of Blood Perfusion Dependent Temperature Distribution in Transient Case in Human Dermal Region
Authors: Yogesh Shukla
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Many attempts have been made to study temperature distribution problem in human tissues under normal environmental and physiological conditions at constant arterial blood temperature. But very few attempts have been made to investigate temperature distribution in human tissues under different arterial blood temperature. In view of above, a finite element model has been developed to unsteady temperature distribution in dermal region in human body. The model has been developed for one dimension unsteady state case. The variation in parameters like thermal conductivity, blood mass flow and metabolic activity with respect to position and time has been incorporated in the model. Appropriate boundary conditions have been framed. The central difference approach has been used in space variable and trapezoidal rule has been employed a long time variable. Numerical results have been obtained to study relationship among temperature and time.Keywords: rate of metabolism, blood mass flow rate, thermal conductivity, heat generation, finite element method
Procedia PDF Downloads 355509 Real-Time Course Recommendation System for Online Learning Platforms
Authors: benabbess anja
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This research presents the design and implementation of a real-time course recommendation system for online learning platforms, leveraging user competencies and expertise levels. The system begins by extracting and classifying the complexity levels of courses from Udemy datasets using semantic enrichment techniques and resources such as WordNet and BERT. A predictive model assigns complexity levels to each course, adding columns that represent the course category, sub-category, and complexity level to the existing dataset. Simultaneously, user profiles are constructed through questionnaires capturing their skills, sub-skills, and proficiency levels. The recommendation process involves generating embeddings with BERT, followed by calculating cosine similarity between user profiles and courses. Courses are ranked based on their relevance, with the BERT model delivering the most accurate results. To enable real-time recommendations, Apache Kafka is integrated to track user interactions (clicks, comments, time spent, completed courses, feedback) and update user profiles. The embeddings are regenerated, and similarities with courses are recalculated to reflect users' evolving needs and behaviors, incorporating a progressive weighting of interactions for more personalized suggestions. This approach ensures dynamic and real-time course recommendations tailored to user progress and engagement, providing a more personalized and effective learning experience. This system aims to improve user engagement and optimize learning paths by offering courses that precisely match users' needs and current skill levels.Keywords: recommendation system, online learning, real-time, user skills, expertise level, personalized recommendations, dynamic suggestions
Procedia PDF Downloads 10508 An Evaluation of 6th Grade History Curriculum in Ghana
Authors: Abigail Amoako Kayser, Brian Kayser
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This study aimed to examine Ghana's 6th-grade Basic School history curriculum to determine how Ghanaian history is taught. We used qualitative methods and document analysis. The document analysis served two primary purposes: (1) To gain insight into what the curriculum materials covered and from whom's perspectives, and (2) To triangulate with teacher interview data. Documents obtained included: (1) Textbooks used by 6th-grade students, (2) Teacher pacing guide provided by the Department of Education in Ghana, and (3) Student work samples. This study was guided through Post-colonial theory and criticisms to explore the remnants of colonial power and hegemony that persist in history curricula used in public schools in Ghana. We also applied African Feminist Thought and Black Feminist Thought to unpack the extent to which issues of patriarchy, race, traditions, underdevelopment, and sexuality impact how we see the experiences of people on the continent. The findings indicated that the remnant of colonial rule persisted in the contents of the history curriculum, and the atrocities of slavery were overlooked or eliminated from the curriculum. The findings also indicated that Ghana's history centered on men's experiences.Keywords: history, curriculum, decolonialization, culturally relevant pedagogy
Procedia PDF Downloads 80507 Online Learning for Modern Business Models: Theoretical Considerations and Algorithms
Authors: Marian Sorin Ionescu, Olivia Negoita, Cosmin Dobrin
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This scientific communication reports and discusses learning models adaptable to modern business problems and models specific to digital concepts and paradigms. In the PAC (probably approximately correct) learning model approach, in which the learning process begins by receiving a batch of learning examples, the set of learning processes is used to acquire a hypothesis, and when the learning process is fully used, this hypothesis is used in the prediction of new operational examples. For complex business models, a lot of models should be introduced and evaluated to estimate the induced results so that the totality of the results are used to develop a predictive rule, which anticipates the choice of new models. In opposition, for online learning-type processes, there is no separation between the learning (training) and predictive phase. Every time a business model is approached, a test example is considered from the beginning until the prediction of the appearance of a model considered correct from the point of view of the business decision. After choosing choice a part of the business model, the label with the logical value "true" is known. Some of the business models are used as examples of learning (training), which helps to improve the prediction mechanisms for future business models.Keywords: machine learning, business models, convex analysis, online learning
Procedia PDF Downloads 142506 Global Position of Gender Equality in India: A Comparative Study
Authors: Mangesh Govindrao Acharya
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It’s a matter of regret that rule began by causing social divisions in slave India. Even after independence, gender inequality persisted in Indian society; however, as social consciousness, awareness of governance, and political participation increased, this disparity gradually decreased. Technological advancement played an important role in awakening women. Today, a large number of women are able to address their problems in relevant places. The sense of honour for women in the family has also increased. Education, health, and food are indispensable for a strong society. Society's attitude towards the education of women and girls has become positive. Today, women have set their records in many important places. Women still face many challenges. Health awareness among rural women is a big challenge. Equality between men and women is the biggest social reform campaign implemented in our country. It has been going on endlessly for years, but the expected success does not seem to have been achieved. On the contrary, the issue of equality between men and women keeps coming before society in a new form. An attempt has been made in the present research essay to give an account of India's performance in this regard at the global level.Keywords: gender sensitization, gender equality, women's dignity, women's safety
Procedia PDF Downloads 140505 The Best Prediction Data Mining Model for Breast Cancer Probability in Women Residents in Kabul
Authors: Mina Jafari, Kobra Hamraee, Saied Hossein Hosseini
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The prediction of breast cancer disease is one of the challenges in medicine. In this paper we collected 528 records of women’s information who live in Kabul including demographic, life style, diet and pregnancy data. There are many classification algorithm in breast cancer prediction and tried to find the best model with most accurate result and lowest error rate. We evaluated some other common supervised algorithms in data mining to find the best model in prediction of breast cancer disease among afghan women living in Kabul regarding to momography result as target variable. For evaluating these algorithms we used Cross Validation which is an assured method for measuring the performance of models. After comparing error rate and accuracy of three models: Decision Tree, Naive Bays and Rule Induction, Decision Tree with accuracy of 94.06% and error rate of %15 is found the best model to predicting breast cancer disease based on the health care records.Keywords: decision tree, breast cancer, probability, data mining
Procedia PDF Downloads 140504 Electronic Payment Recording with Payment History Retrieval Module: A System Software
Authors: Adrian Forca, Simeon Cainday III
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The Electronic Payment Recording with Payment History Retrieval Module is developed intendedly for the College of Science and Technology. This system software innovates the manual process of recording the payments done in the department through the development of electronic payment recording system software shifting from the slow and time-consuming procedure to quick yet reliable and accurate way of recording payments because it immediately generates receipts for every transaction. As an added feature to its software process, generation of recorded payment report is integrated eliminating the manual reporting to a more easy and consolidated report. As an added feature to the system, all recorded payments of the students can be retrieved immediately making the system transparent and reliable payment recording software. Viewing the whole process, the system software will shift from the manual process to an organized software technology because the information will be stored in a logically correct and normalized database. Further, the software will be developed using the modern programming language and implement strict programming methods to validate all users accessing the system, evaluate all data passed into the system and information retrieved to ensure data accuracy and reliability. In addition, the system will identify the user and limit its access privilege to establish boundaries of the specific access to information allowed for the store, modify, and update making the information secure against unauthorized data manipulation. As a result, the System software will eliminate the manual procedure and replace with an innovative modern information technology resulting to the improvement of the whole process of payment recording fast, secure, accurate and reliable software innovations.Keywords: collection, information system, manual procedure, payment
Procedia PDF Downloads 168503 Chatbots vs. Websites: A Comparative Analysis Measuring User Experience and Emotions in Mobile Commerce
Authors: Stephan Boehm, Julia Engel, Judith Eisser
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During the last decade communication in the Internet transformed from a broadcast to a conversational model by supporting more interactive features, enabling user generated content and introducing social media networks. Another important trend with a significant impact on electronic commerce is a massive usage shift from desktop to mobile devices. However, a presentation of product- or service-related information accumulated on websites, micro pages or portals often remains the pivot and focal point of a customer journey. A more recent change of user behavior –especially in younger user groups and in Asia– is going along with the increasing adoption of messaging applications supporting almost real-time but asynchronous communication on mobile devices. Mobile apps of this type cannot only provide an alternative for traditional one-to-one communication on mobile devices like voice calls or short messaging service. Moreover, they can be used in mobile commerce as a new marketing and sales channel, e.g., for product promotions and direct marketing activities. This requires a new way of customer interaction compared to traditional mobile commerce activities and functionalities provided based on mobile web-sites. One option better aligned to the customer interaction in mes-saging apps are so-called chatbots. Chatbots are conversational programs or dialog systems simulating a text or voice based human interaction. They can be introduced in mobile messaging and social media apps by using rule- or artificial intelligence-based imple-mentations. In this context, a comparative analysis is conducted to examine the impact of using traditional websites or chatbots for promoting a product in an impulse purchase situation. The aim of this study is to measure the impact on the customers’ user experi-ence and emotions. The study is based on a random sample of about 60 smartphone users in the group of 20 to 30-year-olds. Participants are randomly assigned into two groups and participate in a traditional website or innovative chatbot based mobile com-merce scenario. The chatbot-based scenario is implemented by using a Wizard-of-Oz experimental approach for reasons of sim-plicity and to allow for more flexibility when simulating simple rule-based and more advanced artificial intelligence-based chatbot setups. A specific set of metrics is defined to measure and com-pare the user experience in both scenarios. It can be assumed, that users get more emotionally involved when interacting with a system simulating human communication behavior instead of browsing a mobile commerce website. For this reason, innovative face-tracking and analysis technology is used to derive feedback on the emotional status of the study participants while interacting with the website or the chatbot. This study is a work in progress. The results will provide first insights on the effects of chatbot usage on user experiences and emotions in mobile commerce environments. Based on the study findings basic requirements for a user-centered design and implementation of chatbot solutions for mobile com-merce can be derived. Moreover, first indications on situations where chatbots might be favorable in comparison to the usage of traditional website based mobile commerce can be identified.Keywords: chatbots, emotions, mobile commerce, user experience, Wizard-of-Oz prototyping
Procedia PDF Downloads 459502 Solving a Micromouse Maze Using an Ant-Inspired Algorithm
Authors: Rolando Barradas, Salviano Soares, António Valente, José Alberto Lencastre, Paulo Oliveira
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This article reviews the Ant Colony Optimization, a nature-inspired algorithm, and its implementation in the Scratch/m-Block programming environment. The Ant Colony Optimization is a part of Swarm Intelligence-based algorithms and is a subset of biological-inspired algorithms. Starting with a problem in which one has a maze and needs to find its path to the center and return to the starting position. This is similar to an ant looking for a path to a food source and returning to its nest. Starting with the implementation of a simple wall follower simulator, the proposed solution uses a dynamic graphical interface that allows young students to observe the ants’ movement while the algorithm optimizes the routes to the maze’s center. Things like interface usability, Data structures, and the conversion of algorithmic language to Scratch syntax were some of the details addressed during this implementation. This gives young students an easier way to understand the computational concepts of sequences, loops, parallelism, data, events, and conditionals, as they are used through all the implemented algorithms. Future work includes the simulation results with real contest mazes and two different pheromone update methods and the comparison with the optimized results of the winners of each one of the editions of the contest. It will also include the creation of a Digital Twin relating the virtual simulator with a real micromouse in a full-size maze. The first test results show that the algorithm found the same optimized solutions that were found by the winners of each one of the editions of the Micromouse contest making this a good solution for maze pathfinding.Keywords: nature inspired algorithms, scratch, micromouse, problem-solving, computational thinking
Procedia PDF Downloads 126501 Patient Tracking Challenges During Disasters and Emergencies
Authors: Mohammad H. Yarmohammadian, Reza Safdari, Mahmoud Keyvanara, Nahid Tavakoli
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One of the greatest challenges in disaster and emergencies is patient tracking. The concept of tracking has different denotations. One of the meanings refers to tracking patients’ physical locations and the other meaning refers to tracking patients ‘medical needs during emergency services. The main goal of patient tracking is to provide patient safety during disaster and emergencies and manage the flow of patient and information in different locations. In most of cases, there are not sufficient and accurate data regarding the number of injuries, medical conditions and their accommodation and transference. The objective of the present study is to survey on patient tracking issue in natural disaster and emergencies. Methods: This was a narrative study in which the population was E-Journals and the electronic database such as PubMed, Proquest, Science direct, Elsevier, etc. Data was gathered by Extraction Form. All data were analyzed via content analysis. Results: In many countries there is no appropriate and rapid method for tracking patients and transferring victims after the occurrence of incidents. The absence of reliable data of patients’ transference and accommodation, even in the initial hours and days after the occurrence of disasters, and coordination for appropriate resource allocation, have faced challenges for evaluating needs and services challenges. Currently, most of emergency services are based on paper systems, while these systems do not act appropriately in great disasters and incidents and this issue causes information loss. Conclusion: Patient tracking system should update the location of patients or evacuees and information related to their states. Patients’ information should be accessible for authorized users to continue their treatment, accommodation and transference. Also it should include timely information of patients’ location as soon as they arrive somewhere and leave therein such a way that health care professionals can be able to provide patients’ proper medical treatment.Keywords: patient tracking, challenges, disaster, emergency
Procedia PDF Downloads 308500 Controlling the Expense of Political Contests Using a Modified N-Players Tullock’s Model
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This work introduces a generalization of the classical Tullock’s model of one-stage contests under complete information with multiple unlimited numbers of contestants. In classical Tullock’s model, the contest winner is not necessarily the highest bidder. Instead, the winner is determined according to a draw in which the winning probabilities are the relative contestants’ efforts. The Tullock modeling fits well political contests, in which the winner is not necessarily the highest effort contestant. This work presents a modified model which uses a simple non-discriminating rule, namely, a parameter to influence the total costs planned for an election, for example, the contest designer can control the contestants' efforts. The winner pays a fee, and the losers are reimbursed the same amount. Our proposed model includes a mechanism that controls the efforts exerted and balances competition, creating a tighter, less predictable and more interesting contest. Additionally, the proposed model follows the fairness criterion in the sense that it does not alter the contestants' probabilities of winning compared to the classic Tullock’s model. We provide an analytic solution for the contestant's optimal effort and expected reward.Keywords: contests, Tullock's model, political elections, control expenses
Procedia PDF Downloads 145499 Integrating Efficient Anammox with Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal Process Through Flocs Management for Sustainable Ultra-deep Nutrients Removal from Municipal Wastewater
Authors: Qiongpeng Dan, Xiyao Li, Qiong Zhang, Yongzhen Peng
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The nutrients removal from wastewater is of great significance for global wastewater recycling and sustainable reuse. Traditional nitrogen and phosphorus removal processes are very dependent on the input of aeration and carbon sources, which makes it difficult to meet the low-carbon goal of energy saving and emission reduction. This study reported a proof-of-concept demonstration of integrating anammox and enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) by flocs management in a single-stage hybrid bioreactor (biofilms and flocs) for simultaneous nitrogen and phosphorus removal (SNPR). Excellent removal efficiencies of nitrogen (97.7±1.3%) and phosphorus (97.4±0.7%) were obtained in low C/N ratio (3.0±0.5) municipal wastewater treatment. Interestingly, with the loss of flocs, anammox bacteria (Ca. Brocadia) was highly enriched in biofilms, with relative and absolute abundances reaching up to 12.5% and 8.3×1010 copies/g dry sludge, respectively. The anammox contribution to nitrogen removal also rose from 32.6±9.8% to 53.4±4.2%. Endogenous denitrification by flocs was proven to be the main contributor to both nitrite and nitrate reduction, and flocs loss significantly promoted nitrite flow towards anammox, facilitating AnAOB enrichment. Moreover, controlling the floc's solid retention time at around 8 days could maintain a low poly-phosphorus level of 0.02±0.001 mg P/mg VSS in the flocs, effectively addressing the additional phosphorus removal burden imposed by the enrichment of phosphorus-accumulating organisms in biofilms. This study provides an update on developing a simple and feasible strategy for integrating anammox and EBPR for SNPR in mainstream municipal wastewater.Keywords: anammox process, enhanced biological phosphorus removal, municipal wastewater, sustainable nutrients removal
Procedia PDF Downloads 54498 Survey on Awareness, Knowledge and Practices: Managing Osteoporosis among Practitioners in a Tertiary Hospital, Malaysia
Authors: P. H. Tee, S. M. Zamri, K. M. Kasim, S. K. Tiew
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This study evaluates the management of osteoporosis in a tertiary care government hospital in Malaysia. As the number of admitted patients having osteoporotic fractures is on the rise, osteoporotic medications are an increasing financial burden to government hospitals because they account for half of the orthopedic budget and expenditure. Comprehensive knowledge among practitioners is important to detect early and avoid this preventable disease and its serious complications. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the awareness, knowledge, and practices in managing osteoporosis among practitioners in Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (HTAR), Klang. A questionnaire from an overseas study in managing osteoporosis among primary care physicians is adapted to Malaysia’s Clinical Practice Guideline of Osteoporosis 2012 (revised 2015) and international guidelines were distributed to all orthopedic practitioners in HTAR Klang (including surgeons, orthopedic medical officers), endocrinologists, rheumatologists and geriatricians. The participants were evaluated on their expertise in the diagnosis, prevention, treatment decision and medications for osteoporosis. Collected data were analyzed for all descriptive and statistical analyses as appropriate. All 45 participants responded to the questionnaire. Participants scored highest on expertise in prevention, followed by diagnosis, treatment decision and lastly, medication. Most practitioners stated that own-initiated continuing professional education from articles and books was the most effective way to update their knowledge, followed by attendance in conferences on osteoporosis. This study confirms the importance of comprehensive training and education regarding osteoporosis among tertiary care physicians and surgeons, predominantly in pharmacotherapy, to deliver wholesome care for osteoporotic patients.Keywords: awareness, knowledge, osteoporosis, practices
Procedia PDF Downloads 131497 Application of Remote Sensing and In-Situ Measurements for Discharge Monitoring in Large Rivers: Case of Pool Malebo in the Congo River Basin
Authors: Kechnit Djamel, Ammarri Abdelhadi, Raphael Tshimang, Mark Trrig
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One of the most important aspects of monitoring rivers is navigation. The variation of discharge in the river generally produces a change in available draft for a vessel, particularly in the low flow season, which can impact the navigable water path, especially when the water depth is less than the normal one, which allows safe navigation for boats. The water depth is related to the bathymetry of the channel as well as the discharge. For a seasonal update of the navigation maps, a daily discharge value is required. Many novel approaches based on earth observation and remote sensing have been investigated for large rivers. However, it should be noted that most of these approaches are not currently able to directly estimate river discharge. This paper discusses the application of remote sensing tools using the analysis of the reflectance value of MODIS imagery and is combined with field measurements for the estimation of discharge. This approach is applied in the lower reach of the Congo River (Pool Malebo) for the period between 2019 and 2021. The correlation obtained between the observed discharge observed in the gauging station and the reflectance ratio time series is 0.81. In this context, a Discharge Reflectance Model (DRM) was developed to express discharge as a function of reflectance. This model introduces a non-contact method that allows discharge monitoring using earth observation. DRM was validated by field measurements using ADCP, in different sections on the Pool Malebo, over two different periods (dry and wet seasons), as well as by the observed discharge in the gauging station. The observed error between the estimated and measured discharge values ranges from 1 to 8% for the ADCP and from (1% to 11%) for the gauging station. The study of the uncertainties will give us the possibility to judge the robustness of the DRM.Keywords: discharge monitoring, navigation, MODIS, empiric, ADCP, Congo River
Procedia PDF Downloads 92496 A Neural Network Approach to Evaluate Supplier Efficiency in a Supply Chain
Authors: Kishore K. Pochampally
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The success of a supply chain heavily relies on the efficiency of the suppliers involved. In this paper, we propose a neural network approach to evaluate the efficiency of a supplier, which is being considered for inclusion in a supply chain, using the available linguistic (fuzzy) data of suppliers that already exist in the supply chain. The approach is carried out in three phases, as follows: In phase one, we identify criteria for evaluation of the supplier of interest. Then, in phase two, we use performance measures of already existing suppliers to construct a neural network that gives weights (importance values) of criteria identified in phase one. Finally, in phase three, we calculate the overall rating of the supplier of interest. The following are the major findings of the research conducted for this paper: (i) linguistic (fuzzy) ratings of suppliers such as 'good', 'bad', etc., can be converted (defuzzified) to numerical ratings (1 – 10 scale) using fuzzy logic so that those ratings can be used for further quantitative analysis; (ii) it is possible to construct and train a multi-level neural network in order to determine the weights of the criteria that are used to evaluate a supplier; and (iii) Borda’s rule can be used to group the weighted ratings and calculate the overall efficiency of the supplier.Keywords: fuzzy data, neural network, supplier, supply chain
Procedia PDF Downloads 114495 The Land of a Thousand Temples and the Place Where America’s Day Begins: A Religious Point of View
Authors: Ulysses Story
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The two vast island regions of Indonesia and Micronesia are linked through ancient connections and share similar cultural and spiritual values. The islands of Bali and Guam are the focus of this paper, and the research explores the foundational values and beliefs of each island community and the challenges they face in the modern world. Each community has been sustained for thousands of years through rich cultural and spiritual philosophies that give them meaning and purpose in their lives and help connect individuals and families to each other, to the natural world, and to spiritual forces. Each share a similar history of colonial rule marked with violence and struggle. This research is informed through ethnographic methodologies, drawing particularly on participant observation and in-depth interviews conducted in both Bali and Guam. An appreciation of the collective viewpoint of these communities was gained through cultural immersion in the philosophies of Inafamaolek in Guam and Tri Hita Karana in Bali. The research highlights how spiritual and cultural values and philosophies serve indigenous people as they strive to hold on to their foundational beliefs and practices and yet move forward in the modern world.Keywords: Inafamaolek, Guam, Tri Hita Karana, Bali
Procedia PDF Downloads 71494 Resilient Environments vs. Resilient Architects: Creativity, Practice and Education
Authors: Y. Perera, M. Pathiraja
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Within the paradigm of 'Resilient Built-environments,' in order for architecture to be resilient, 'Resilience' should be identified as an essential component of the architect’s notion of creativity. In much simpler terms, 'Resilient Built-Environment' should necessarily be a by-product of the 'Resilient Architect.' The inherent influence of individualistic notions of creativity upon the practice had intensified the dichotomy between theory and practice unless the notion of 'Resilience' is identified as an integral component of the architect’s notion of creativity. Analysing the architectural position is an ideal way of understanding the architect’s notion of creativity, therefore, in exploring the notion of 'Resilience' and the 'Resilient Architect' within the Sri Lankan platform, the architectural positions of two renowned architects; Geoffrey Bawa and Valentine Gunasekara were explored and analysed. The architectural positions of both the architects asserted specific rules and methodologies adopted within the process of problem solving that had subsequently led to a traceable language / pattern within their architecture. The dominance of such rules within the practice could be detrimental to adaptation of theories / notions, such as 'Resilience' and the formation of the 'Resilient Architect', unless methodologies itself are flexible, robust, despite rigidity, or else the notion of 'Resilience' exist in the form of a methodological rule.Keywords: architectural position, creativity, education, practice, resilience, theory
Procedia PDF Downloads 317493 Dynamic Effects of Charitable Giving in a Ramsey Model
Authors: Riham Barbar
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This paper studies the dynamic effects of charitable giving in a Ramsey model à la Becker and Foias (1994), such that heterogeneity is reduced to two types of agents: rich and poor. It is assumed that rich show a great concern for poor and enjoy giving. The introduction of charitable giving in this paper is inspired from the notion of Zakat (borrowed from the Islamic Economics) and is defined according to the warm-glow of Andreoni (1990). In this framework, we prove the existence of a steady state where only the patient agent holds capital. Furthermore, we show that local indetermincay appears. While moderate values of charitable-giving elasticity makes the appearance of endogenous fluctuations due to self-fulfilling expectations more likely, high values of this elasticity stabilizes endogenous fluctuations, by narrowing down the range of parameter values compatible with local indeterminacy and may rule out expectations-driven fluctuations if it exceeds certain threshold. Finally, cycles of period two emerge. However, charitable-giving makes it less likely for these cycles to emerge.Keywords: charitable giving, warm-glow, bifurcations, heterogeneous agents, indeterminacy, self-fulfilling expectations, endogenous fluctuations
Procedia PDF Downloads 316492 Systematic Review of the Efficacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Parkinson Disease
Authors: Catarina Ramos Pereira, Jorge Rodrigues, Natália Oliveira, Jorge Machado, Maria Begoña Criado, Jorge Machado, Henri J. Greten
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Background: Parkinson's disease is a multi-system neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor and non-motor symptoms. To slow disorder progression, different treatment options are now available, but in most cases, these therapeutic strategies also involve the presence of important side effects. This has led many patients to pursue complementary therapies, such as acupuncture, to alleviate PD symptoms. Therefore, an update on the efficacy of this treatment for patients of PD is of great value. This work presents a systematic review of the efficacy of acupuncture treatments in relieving PD symptoms. Methods: EMBASE, Medline, Pubmed, Science Direct, The Cochrane Library, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Central), and Scielo databases were systematically searched from January 2011 through July 2021. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in English with all types of acupuncture treatment were included. The selection and analysis of the articles were conducted by two blinding authors through the Rayyan application. Results: 720 potentially relevant articles were identified; 52 RCTs met our inclusion criteria. After the exclusion of 35, we found 17 eligible. The included RCTs reported positive effects for acupuncture plus conventional treatment compared with conventional treatment alone in the UPDRS score. Conclusions: Additional evidence should be supported by rigorous methodological strategies. Although firm conclusions cannot be drawn, acupuncture treatment, in the framework of an interdisciplinary care team, appears to have positive effects on PD symptoms.Keywords: systematic review, Parkinson disease, acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine
Procedia PDF Downloads 145491 Religious Beliefs versus Child’s Rights: Anti-Vaccine Movement in Indonesia
Authors: Ni Luh Bayu PurwaEka Payani, Destin Ristanti
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Every child has the right to be healthy, and it is a parents’ obligation to fulfill their rights. In order to be healthy and prevented from the outbreak of infectious diseases, some vaccines are required. However, there are groups of people, who consider that vaccines consist of religiously forbidden ingredients. The government of Indonesia legally set the rule that all children must be vaccinated. However, merely based on religious beliefs and not supported by scientific evidence, these people ignore the vaccination. As a result, this anti-vaccine movement caused diphtheria outbreak in 2017. Categorized as a vulnerable group, child`s rights must be fulfilled in any forms. This paper tries to analyze the contradiction between religious beliefs and the fulfillment of child`s rights. Furthermore, it tries to identify the anti-vaccine movement as a form of human rights violation, especially regarding child's rights. This has been done by examining the event of the outbreak of diphtheria in 20 provinces of Indonesia. Furthermore, interview and literature reviews have been done to support the analysis. Through this process, it becomes clear that the anti-vaccine movements driven by religious beliefs did influence the outbreak of diphtheria. Hence, the anti-vaccine movements ignore the long-term effects not only on their own children’s health but also others.Keywords: anti-vaccine movement, child rights, religious beliefs, right to health
Procedia PDF Downloads 214490 Analysis of Artificial Hip Joint Using Finite Element Method
Authors: Syed Zameer, Mohamed Haneef
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Hip joint plays very important role in human beings as it takes up the whole body forces generated due to various activities. These loads are repetitive and fluctuating depending on the activities such as standing, sitting, jogging, stair casing, climbing, etc. which may lead to failure of Hip joint. Hip joint modification and replacement are common in old aged persons as well as younger persons. In this research study static and Fatigue analysis of Hip joint model was carried out using finite element software ANSYS. Stress distribution obtained from result of static analysis, material properties and S-N curve data of fabricated Ultra High molecular weight polyethylene / 50 wt% short E glass fibres + 40 wt% TiO2 Polymer matrix composites specimens were used to estimate fatigue life of Hip joint using stiffness Degradation model for polymer matrix composites. The stress distribution obtained from static analysis was found to be within the acceptable range.The factor of safety calculated from linear Palmgren linear damage rule is less than one, which indicates the component is safe under the design.Keywords: hip joint, polymer matrix composite, static analysis, fatigue analysis, stress life approach
Procedia PDF Downloads 357489 Implementing a Hospitalist Co-Management Service in Orthopaedic Surgery
Authors: Diane Ghanem, Whitney Kagabo, Rebecca Engels, Uma Srikumaran, Babar Shafiq
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Hospitalist co-management of orthopaedic surgery patients is a growing trend across the country. It was created as a collaborative effort to provide overarching care to patients with the goal of improving their postoperative care and decreasing in-hospital medical complications. The aim of this project is to provide a guide for implementing and optimizing a hospitalist co-management service in orthopaedic surgery. Key leaders from the hospitalist team, orthopaedic team and quality, safety and service team were identified. Multiple meetings were convened to discuss the comanagement service and determine the necessary building blocks behind an efficient and well-designed co-management framework. After meticulous deliberation, a consensus was reached on the final service agreement and a written guide was drafted. Fundamental features of the service include the identification of service stakeholders and leaders, frequent consensus meetings, a well-defined framework, with goals, program metrics and unified commands, and a regular satisfaction assessment to update and improve the program. Identified pearls for co-managing orthopaedic surgery patients are standardization, timing, adequate patient selection, and two-way feedback between hospitalists and orthopaedic surgeons to optimize the protocols. Developing a service agreement is a constant work in progress, with meetings, discussions, revisions, and multiple piloting attempts before implementation. It is a partnership created to provide hospitals with a streamlined admission process where at-risk patients are identified early, and patient care is optimized regardless of the number or nature of medical comorbidities. A wellestablished hospitalist co-management service can increase patient care quality and safety, as well as health care value.Keywords: co-management, hospitalist co-management, implementation, orthopaedic surgery, quality improvement
Procedia PDF Downloads 90488 Knowledge and Use of Computer Application Packages by Office Managers/Secretaries in Higher Institutions in Ogun State Nigeria: Implication on Performance Enhancement
Authors: Charlotte Bose Iro-Idoro, Adebisi Folake Osore, Tajudeen Adisa Jimoh
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All changes in the office environment were and are still driven by advances in technology. The impact of computers on office work has resulted in numerous changes in office activities, procedures and the expectations from office managers and secretaries. This study investigated the level of knowledge and use of computer office application packages by secretaries and office managers in higher educational institutions in Ogun State and the implications of these on their performance enhancement. The study is an ex post facto research and adopted the survey design for the collection of data. Two hypotheses were formulated, and a questionnaire was developed and tested at 0.05 level of significance. All office managers and secretaries in the service of higher educational institutions in Ogun State, Nigeria formed the population of the study. The study was limited to federal institutions and a total of 120 office managers/secretaries were selected to form the sample such that 40 office managers/secretaries were randomly selected from each of the three Federal higher institutions in the State, that is Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro and Federal College of Education, Osiele, Abeokuta, Ogun State. Analysis of data and hypotheses tests were carried out with frequency counts, percentage and T-Test. The result indicated varying levels of awareness on office application tools with limited knowledge and use of computer application packages by office managers/secretaries. The results also showed that good knowledge and high use of office application tools enhance performance of office managers/secretaries. The study recommended that there should be maximum institutional resources and support and personal development on the part of the office managers to ensure update knowledge and maximal use of office application tools by office managers/secretaries.Keywords: application packages, computer, office managers, performance enhancement
Procedia PDF Downloads 181487 Fuzzy Inference System for Risk Assessment Evaluation of Wheat Flour Product Manufacturing Systems
Authors: Atrin Barzegar, Yas Barzegar, Stefano Marrone, Francesco Bellini, Laura Verde
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The aim of this research is to develop an intelligent system to analyze the risk level of wheat flour product manufacturing system. The model consists of five Fuzzy Inference Systems in two different layers to analyse the risk of a wheat flour product manufacturing system. The first layer of the model consists of four Fuzzy Inference Systems with three criteria. The output of each one of the Physical, Chemical, Biological and Environmental Failures will be the input of the final manufacturing systems. The proposed model based on Mamdani Fuzzy Inference Systems gives a performance ranking of wheat flour products manufacturing systems. The first step is obtaining data to identify the failure modes from expert’s opinions. The second step is the fuzzification process to convert crisp input to a fuzzy set., then the IF-then fuzzy rule applied through inference engine, and in the final step, the defuzzification process is applied to convert the fuzzy output into real numbers.Keywords: failure modes, fuzzy rules, fuzzy inference system, risk assessment
Procedia PDF Downloads 76486 Collision Avoidance Maneuvers for Vessels Navigating through Traffic Separation Scheme
Authors: Aswin V. J., Sreeja S., R. Harikumar
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Ship collision is one of the major concerns while navigating in the ocean. In congested sea routes where there are hectic offshore operations, ships are often forced to take close encounter maneuvers. Maritime rules for preventing collision at sea are defined in the International Regulations for Preventing Collision at Sea. Traffic Separation Schemes (TSS) are traffic management route systems ruled by International Maritime Organization (IMO), where the traffic lanes indicate the general direction of traffic flow. The Rule 10 of International Regulations for Preventing Collision at Sea prescribes the conduct of vessels while navigating through TSS. But no quantitative criteria regarding the procedures to detect and evaluate collision risk is specified in International Regulations for Preventing Collision at Sea. Most of the accidents that occur are due to operational errors affected by human factors such as lack of experience and loss of situational awareness. In open waters, the traffic density is less when compared to that in TSS, and hence the vessels can be operated in autopilot mode. A collision avoidance method that uses the possible obstacle trajectories in advance to predict “collision occurrence” and can generate suitable maneuvers for collision avoidance is presented in this paper. The suitable course and propulsion changes that can be used in a TSS considering International Regulations for Preventing Collision at Sea are found out for various obstacle scenarios.Keywords: collision avoidance, maneuvers, obstacle trajectories, traffic separation scheme
Procedia PDF Downloads 77485 The Emerging Post-Islamism and the Politics of Pakistan’s Jamaat-i-Islami in the Contemporary Muslim World
Authors: Shahzada Gulfam
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Islamism was considered as a new phenomenon in Muslim World to revolt against static Religious Traditionalists and the Imperialists. Islamist political parties viewed the establishment of an Islamic state within the limits of Sharia’h as their destination. The Islamists movements like Ikhwan-ul Muslimun, Jamaat-i-Islami etc. did appear with revolutionary agenda but were contained by military forces and the secular modernists of Muslim World. The Muslim rulers, historically could not respect the democratic and moral norms and equally emerged as dictators in democracies, military rule as well as in monarchies. The Arab Spring did not follow the Islamists agenda but gathered the common masses against the corrupt rulers to have a just democratic political system. The Islamic State and Sharia’h were not their immediate targets but the achievement of moral norms in Muslim societies and eradication of dictatorial rule were the basic aims. This phenomenon is named as post-Islamism. The political struggle of PAT (Pakistan Awami Tehreek) and the PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf) has been following the footsteps of Arab Spring and can be noted as the extension of Arab Spring in Muslim World. The results of this struggle would define the fate of Post-Islamism in Pakistan. Has Jamaat-i-Islami got the potential to reform its agenda accordingly? This paper intends to study the Jamaat’s struggle and tries to predict Jamaat’s role in post-Islamism scenario. There is a clear distinction between the people of religion and the people following the popular materialistic westernized value system. This division is also evident in political parties. Pakistan has been ruled mostly by the secular parties and rulers. The inability to establish Islamic system by replacing the imperial system has created militancy and revolt which requires the establishment of a sound model Islamic based system in the country. The political parties of Pakistan could not device a modernize agenda, equally acceptable in modernized world and addressing the prevailing issues and also having the indigenous religious and cultural roots. The inability of Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan to transform its agenda accordingly to serve the post-Islamism has made it irrelevant in Pakistan’s politics. Once Jamaat leaves behind its hard position as an Islamist party and accepts the post-Islamism as beginning to create its idealized state and society, it can pursue its agenda gradually. The phenomenon of post-Islamism does not make Islamists irrelevant but invites them to listen to the priorities of masses rather than insisting on the agenda of their respective ideologues to be followed for all times. The ruling Muslim democrats and military dictators of Pakistan have been following unfair means to sustain their political power which gave rise to space for the new political parties to emerge and organize agitation successfully in Pakistani Politics. Jamaat-i-Islami could not fill that space to be an agent of Post-Islamism and could not break their chains which had been tying them to the prevailing failed democracy of Pakistan. Post-Islamists are the addressers of the rulers corruption and are struggling for reforms in system. Jamaat due to its ideological compulsions could not transform its agenda accordingly. The new scenario indicates that the Post-Islamism which emerged in Arab World can be taken as first step to establish democracy and justice in state and society and then the establishment of Islamic law and the establishment of an Islamic state should have been the next targets. This gradual agenda would have delivered public support to the Jamaat which deserved that but PTI & PAT have cashed this opportunity in Pakistani politics by strengthening their respective vote banks.Keywords: arab spring, islamic state, islamic political parties, muslim world, post-islamism
Procedia PDF Downloads 371484 The Role of Named Entity Recognition for Information Extraction
Authors: Girma Yohannis Bade, Olga Kolesnikova, Grigori Sidorov
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Named entity recognition (NER) is a building block for information extraction. Though the information extraction process has been automated using a variety of techniques to find and extract a piece of relevant information from unstructured documents, the discovery of targeted knowledge still poses a number of research difficulties because of the variability and lack of structure in Web data. NER, a subtask of information extraction (IE), came to exist to smooth such difficulty. It deals with finding the proper names (named entities), such as the name of the person, country, location, organization, dates, and event in a document, and categorizing them as predetermined labels, which is an initial step in IE tasks. This survey paper presents the roles and importance of NER to IE from the perspective of different algorithms and application area domains. Thus, this paper well summarizes how researchers implemented NER in particular application areas like finance, medicine, defense, business, food science, archeology, and so on. It also outlines the three types of sequence labeling algorithms for NER such as feature-based, neural network-based, and rule-based. Finally, the state-of-the-art and evaluation metrics of NER were presented.Keywords: the role of NER, named entity recognition, information extraction, sequence labeling algorithms, named entity application area
Procedia PDF Downloads 81483 Automated Method Time Measurement System for Redesigning Dynamic Facility Layout
Authors: Salam Alzubaidi, G. Fantoni, F. Failli, M. Frosolini
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The dynamic facility layout problem is a really critical issue in the competitive industrial market; thus, solving this problem requires robust design and effective simulation systems. The sustainable simulation requires inputting reliable and accurate data into the system. So this paper describes an automated system integrated into the real environment to measure the duration of the material handling operations, collect the data in real-time, and determine the variances between the actual and estimated time schedule of the operations in order to update the simulation software and redesign the facility layout periodically. The automated method- time measurement system collects the real data through using Radio Frequency-Identification (RFID) and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. Hence, attaching RFID- antenna reader and RFID tags enables the system to identify the location of the objects and gathering the time data. The real duration gathered will be manipulated by calculating the moving average duration of the material handling operations, choosing the shortest material handling path, and then updating the simulation software to redesign the facility layout accommodating with the shortest/real operation schedule. The periodic simulation in real-time is more sustainable and reliable than the simulation system relying on an analysis of historical data. The case study of this methodology is in cooperation with a workshop team for producing mechanical parts. Although there are some technical limitations, this methodology is promising, and it can be significantly useful in the redesigning of the manufacturing layout.Keywords: dynamic facility layout problem, internet of things, method time measurement, radio frequency identification, simulation
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