Search results for: knowledge management systems
15041 Selecting Answers for Questions with Multiple Answer Choices in Arabic Question Answering Based on Textual Entailment Recognition
Authors: Anes Enakoa, Yawei Liang
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Question Answering (QA) system is one of the most important and demanding tasks in the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP). In QA systems, the answer generation task generates a list of candidate answers to the user's question, in which only one answer is correct. Answer selection is one of the main components of the QA, which is concerned with selecting the best answer choice from the candidate answers suggested by the system. However, the selection process can be very challenging especially in Arabic due to its particularities. To address this challenge, an approach is proposed to answer questions with multiple answer choices for Arabic QA systems based on Textual Entailment (TE) recognition. The developed approach employs a Support Vector Machine that considers lexical, semantic and syntactic features in order to recognize the entailment between the generated hypotheses (H) and the text (T). A set of experiments has been conducted for performance evaluation and the overall performance of the proposed method reached an accuracy of 67.5% with C@1 score of 80.46%. The obtained results are promising and demonstrate that the proposed method is effective for TE recognition task.Keywords: information retrieval, machine learning, natural language processing, question answering, textual entailment
Procedia PDF Downloads 14915040 Land Suitability Scaling and Modeling for Assessing Crop Suitability in Some New Reclaimed Areas, Egypt
Authors: W. A. M. Abdel Kawy, Kh. M. Darwish
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Adequate land use selection is an essential step towards achieving sustainable development. The main object of this study is to develop a new scale for land suitability system, which can be compatible with the local conditions. Furthermore, it aims to adapt the conventional land suitability systems to match the actual environmental status in term of soil types, climate and other conditions to evaluate land suitability for newly reclaimed areas. The new system suggests calculation of land suitability considering 20 factors affecting crop selection grouping into five categories; crop-agronomic, land management, development, environmental conditions and socio – economic status. Each factor is summed by each other to calculate the total points. The highest rating for each factor indicates the highest preference for the evaluated crop. The highest rated crops for each group are those with the highest points for the actual suitability. This study was conducted to assess the application efficiency of the new land suitability scale in recently reclaimed sites in Egypt. Moreover, 35 representative soil profiles were examined, and soil samples were subjected to some physical and chemical analysis. Actual and potential suitabilities were calculated by using the new land suitability scale. Finally, the obtained results confirmed the applicability of a new land suitability system to recommend the most promising crop rotation that can be applied in the study areas. The outputs of this research revealed that the integration of different aspects for modeling and adapting a proposed model provides an effective and flexible technique, which contribute to improve land suitability assessment for several crops to be more accurate and reliable.Keywords: analytic hierarchy process, land suitability, multi-criteria analysis, new reclaimed areas, soil parameters
Procedia PDF Downloads 14215039 Dynamic Mechanical Analysis of Supercooled Water in Nanoporous Confinement and Biological Systems
Authors: Viktor Soprunyuk, Wilfried Schranz, Patrick Huber
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In the present work, we show that Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) with a measurement frequency range f= 0.2 - 100 Hz is a rather powerful technique for the study of phase transitions (freezing and melting) and glass transitions of water in geometrical confinement. Inserting water into nanoporous host matrices, like e.g. Gelsil (size of pores 2.6 nm and 5 nm) or Vycor (size of pores 10 nm) allows one to study size effects occurring at the nanoscale conveniently in macroscopic bulk samples. One obtains valuable insight concerning confinement induced changes of the dynamics by measuring the temperature and frequency dependencies of the complex Young's modulus Y* for various pore sizes. Solid-liquid transitions or glass-liquid transitions show up in a softening or the real part Y' of the complex Young's modulus, yet with completely different frequency dependencies. Analysing the frequency dependent imaginary part of the Young´s modulus in the glass transition regions for different pore sizes we find a clear-cut 1/d-dependence of the calculated glass transition temperatures which extrapolates to Tg(1/d=0)=136 K, in agreement with the traditional value of water. The results indicate that the main role of the pore diameter is the relative amount of water molecules that are near an interface within a length scale of the order of the dynamic correlation length x. Thus we argue that the observed strong pore size dependence of Tg is an interfacial effect, rather than a finite size effect. We obtained similar signatures of Y* near glass transitions in different biological objects (fruits, vegetables, and bread). The values of the activation energies for these biological materials in the region of glass transition are quite similar to the values of the activation energies of supercooled water in the nanoporous confinement in this region. The present work was supported by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF, project Nr. P 28672 – N36).Keywords: biological systems, liquids, glasses, amorphous systems, nanoporous materials, phase transition
Procedia PDF Downloads 24515038 Physical Properties and Elastic Studies of Fluoroaluminate Glasses Based on Alkali
Authors: C. Benhamideche
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Fluoroaluminate glasses have been reported as the earliest heavy metal fluoride glasses. By comparison with flurozirconate glasses, they offer a set of similar optical features, but also some differences in their elastic and chemical properties. In practice they have been less developed because their stability against devitrification is smaller than that of the most stable fluoroziconates. The purpose of this study was to investigate glass formation in systems AlF3-YF3-PbF2-MgF2-MF2 (M= Li, Na, K). Synthesis was implemented at room atmosphere using the ammonium fluoride processing. After fining, the liquid was into a preheated brass mold, then annealed below the glass transition temperature for several hours. The samples were polished for optical measurements. Glass formation has been investigated in a systematic way, using pseudo ternary systems in order to allow parameters to vary at the same time. We have chosen the most stable glass compositions for the determination of the physical properties. These properties including characteristic temperatures, density and proprieties elastic. Glass stability increases in multicomponent glasses. Bulk samples have been prepared for physical characterization. These glasses have a potential interest for passive optical fibers because they are less sensitive to water attack than ZBLAN glass, mechanically stronger. It is expected they could have a larger damage threshold for laser power transmission.Keywords: fluoride glass, aluminium fluoride, thermal properties, density, proprieties elastic
Procedia PDF Downloads 24415037 Subsidying Local Health Policy Programs as a Public Management Tool in the Polish Health Care System
Authors: T. Holecki, J. Wozniak-Holecka, P. Romaniuk
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Due to the highly centralized model of financing health care in Poland, local self-government rarely undertook their own initiatives in the field of public health, particularly health promotion. However, since 2017 the possibility of applying for a subsidy to health policy programs has been allowed, with the additional resources to be retrieved from the National Health Fund, which is the dominant payer in the health system. The amount of subsidy depends on the number of inhabitants in a given unit and ranges about 40% of the total cost of the program. The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of newly implemented solutions in financing health policy on the management of public finances, as well as on the activity provided by local self-government in health promotion. An effort to estimate the amount of expenses that both local governments, and the National Health Fund, spent on local health policy programs while implementing the new solutions. The research method is the analysis of financial data obtained from the National Health Fund and from local government units, as well as reports published by the Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Pricing, which holds substantive control over the health policy programs, and releases permission for their implementation. The study was based on a comparative analysis of expenditures on the implementation of health programs in Poland in years 2010-2018. The presentation of the results includes the inclusion of average annual expenditures of local government units per 1 inhabitant, the total number of positively evaluated applications and the percentage share in total expenditures of local governments (16 voivodships areas). The most essential purpose is to determine whether the assumptions of the subsidy program are working correctly in practice, and what are the real effects of introducing legislative changes into local government levels in the context of public health tasks. The assumption of the study was that the use of a new motivation tool in the field of public management would result in multiplication of resources invested in the provision of health policy programs. Preliminary conclusions show that financial expenditures changed significantly after the introduction of public funding at the level of 40%, obtaining an increase in funding from own funds of local governments at the level of 80 to 90%.Keywords: health care system, health policy programs, local self-governments, public health management
Procedia PDF Downloads 16215036 Socio-Political Crisis in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon and the Emergence of New Cultures
Authors: Doreen Mekunda
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This paper is built on the premise that the current socio-political crisis in the two restive regions of Cameroon, though enveloped with destructive and devastating trends (effects) on both property and human lives, is not without its strengths and merits. It is incontestable that many cultures, to a greater extent, are going to be destroyed as people forcibly move from war-stricken habitats to non-violent places. Many cultural potentials, traditional shrines, artifacts, art, and crafts, etc., are unknowingly or knowingly disfigured, and many other ugly things will, by the end of the crisis, affect the cultures of these two regions under siege and of the receiving population. A plethora of other problems like the persecution of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) for being displaced and blamed for increased crime rates and the existence of cultural and ethnic differences that produce both inter-tribal and interpersonal conflicts and conflicts between communities will abound. However, there is the emergence of rapid literature, and other forms of cultural productions, whether written or oral, is visible, thereby precipitating a rich cultural diversity due to the coming together of a variety of cultures of both the IDPs and the receiving populations, rapid urbanization, improvement of health-related issues, the rebirth of indigenous cultural practices, the development of social and lingua-cultural competences, dependence on alternative religions, faith and spirituality. Even financial and economic dependence, though a burden to others by IDPs, has its own merits as it improves the living standards of the IDPs. To be able to obtain plausible results, cultural materialism, which is a literary theory that hinges on the empirical study of socio-cultural systems within a materialist infrastructure-super-structure framework, is employed together with the postcolonial theory. Postcolonial theory because the study deals with postcolonial experiences/tenets of migration, hybridity, ethnicity, indignity, language, double consciousness, migration, center/margin binaries, and identity, amongst others. The study reveals that the involuntary movement of persons from their habitual homes brings about movement in cultures, thus, the emergence of new cultures. The movement of people who hold fast to their cultural heritage can only influence new forms of literature, the development of new communication competences, the rise of alternative religion, faith and spirituality, the re-emergence of customary and traditional legal systems that might have been abandoned for the new judicial systems, and above all the revitalization of traditional health care systems.Keywords: alternative religion, emergence, socio-political crisis, spirituality, lingua-cultural competences
Procedia PDF Downloads 18515035 Classification System for Soft Tissue Injuries of Face: Bringing Objectiveness to Injury Severity
Authors: Garg Ramneesh, Uppal Sanjeev, Mittal Rajinder, Shah Sheerin, Jain Vikas, Singla Bhupinder
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Introduction: Despite advances in trauma care, a classification system for soft tissue injuries of the face still needs to be objectively defined. Aim: To develop a classification system for soft tissue injuries of the face; that is objective, easy to remember, reproducible, universally applicable, aids in surgical management and helps to develop a structured data that can be used for future use. Material and Methods: This classification system includes those patients that need surgical management of facial injuries. Associated underlying bony fractures have been intentionally excluded. Depending upon the severity of soft tissue injury, these can be graded from 0 to IV (O-Abrasions, I-lacerations, II-Avulsion injuries with no skin loss, III-Avulsion injuries with skin loss that would need graft or flap cover, and IV-complex injuries). Anatomically, the face has been divided into three zones (Zone 1/2/3), as per aesthetic subunits. Zone 1e stands for injury of eyebrows; Zones 2 a/b/c stand for nose, upper eyelid and lower eyelid respectively; Zones 3 a/b/c stand for upper lip, lower lip and cheek respectively. Suffices R and L stand for right or left involved side, B for presence of foreign body like glass or pellets, C for extensive contamination and D for depth which can be graded as D 1/2/3 if depth is still fat, muscle or bone respectively. I is for damage to facial nerve or parotid duct. Results and conclusions: This classification system is easy to remember, clinically applicable and would help in standardization of surgical management of soft tissue injuries of face. Certain inherent limitations of this classification system are inability to classify sutured wounds, hematomas and injuries along or against Langer’s lines.Keywords: soft tissue injuries, face, avulsion, classification
Procedia PDF Downloads 38615034 Repository Blockchain for Collaborative Blockchain Ecosystem
Authors: Razwan Ahmed Tanvir, Greg Speegle
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Collaborative blockchain ecosystems allow diverse groups to cooperate on tasks while providing properties such as decentralization and transaction security. We provide a model that uses a repository blockchain to manage hard forks within a collaborative system such that a single process (assuming that it has knowledge of the requirements of each fork) can access all of the blocks within the system. The repository blockchain replaces the need for Inter Blockchain Communication (IBC) within the ecosystem by navigating the networks. The resulting construction resembles a tree instead of a chain. A proof-of-concept implementation performs a depth-first search on the new structure.Keywords: hard fork, shared governance, inter blockchain communication, blockchain ecosystem, regular research paper
Procedia PDF Downloads 2615033 Investigation of Optimal Parameter Settings in Super Duplex Stainless Steel Welding Welding
Authors: R. M. Chandima Ratnayake, Daniel Dyakov
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Super steel materials play vital role in construction and fabrication of structural, piping and pipeline components. They enable to minimize the life cycle costs in assuring the integrity of onshore and offshore operating systems. In this context, Duplex stainless steel (DSS) material related welding on constructions and fabrications play a significant role in maintaining and assuring integrity at an optimal expenditure over the life cycle of production and process systems as well as associated structures. In DSS welding, the factors such as gap geometry, shielding gas supply rate, welding current, and type of the welding process play a vital role on the final joint performance. Hence, an experimental investigation has been performed using engineering robust design approach (ERDA) to investigate the optimal settings that generate optimal super DSS (i.e. UNS S32750) joint performance. This manuscript illustrates the mathematical approach and experimental design, optimal parameter settings and results of verification experiment.Keywords: duplex stainless steel welding, engineering robust design, mathematical framework, optimal parameter settings
Procedia PDF Downloads 41915032 A Predictive Machine Learning Model of the Survival of Female-led and Co-Led Small and Medium Enterprises in the UK
Authors: Mais Khader, Xingjie Wei
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This research sheds light on female entrepreneurs by providing new insights on the survival predictions of companies led by females in the UK. This study aims to build a predictive machine learning model of the survival of female-led & co-led small & medium enterprises (SMEs) in the UK over the period 2000-2020. The predictive model built utilised a combination of financial and non-financial features related to both companies and their directors to predict SMEs' survival. These features were studied in terms of their contribution to the resultant predictive model. Five machine learning models are used in the modelling: Decision tree, AdaBoost, Naïve Bayes, Logistic regression and SVM. The AdaBoost model had the highest performance of the five models, with an accuracy of 73% and an AUC of 80%. The results show high feature importance in predicting companies' survival for company size, management experience, financial performance, industry, region, and females' percentage in management.Keywords: company survival, entrepreneurship, females, machine learning, SMEs
Procedia PDF Downloads 10715031 Use of Dual-Energy CT Post Endovascular Treatment of Cerebral Aneurysm
Authors: Mitchell Stanton
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Background: Endovascular management is well established as a mainstay treatment option for cerebral aneurysms. It is also well established that immediate post procedural imaging can be difficult to interpret due to the presence of contrast material. However, through the use of Dual-Energy computed tomography, it has become possible to differentiate contrast extravasation and intracranial haemorrhage. This case illustrates the importance of this technology following endovascular treatment of an unruptured cerebral aneurysm. Case Presentation: A 79-year-old female was found to have an unruptured large intracavernous ICA fusiform aneurysm on CT Brain Angiogram after presenting with acute ophthalmoplegia. This ophthalmoplegia was caused by mass effect from the aneurysm and subsequently the aneurysm was treated with an endovascular flow diverting stent. CT brain was performed post operatively due to a reduced level of consciousness and this showed diffuse subarachnoid hyperdensity of the left hemisphere. The use of Dual-Energy CT allowed accurate differentiation and illustrated diffuse contrast material extravasation, allowing patient to continue on dual-antiplatelets and therapeutic anticoagulation to reduce the risk of ischaemic injury post endovascular stent. Conclusion: Endovascular treatment options for management of intracranial aneurysms are constantly evolving. The use of Dual-Energy CT therefore has an integral role in accurately diagnosing any post-operative complications. Specifically, differentiating between subarachnoid haemorrhage and contrast extravasation is vital in these patients due to the significant consequences to their ongoing management in regards to continuation or cessation of antiplatelets or anticoagulation. With increasing access to this technology, its use should become standard practice in the post-operative investigation of these patients undergoing endovascular treatment.Keywords: aneurysm, computed tomography, contrast extravasation, dual-energy CT, endovascular, subarachnoid haemorrhage
Procedia PDF Downloads 8015030 Microplastics in the Seine River Catchment: Results and Lessons from a Pluriannual Research Programme
Authors: Bruno Tassin, Robin Treilles, Cleo Stratmann, Minh Trang Nguyen, Sam Azimi, Vincent Rocher, Rachid Dris, Johnny Gasperi
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Microplastics (<5mm) in the environment and in hydro systems is one of the major present environmental issues. Over the last five years a research programme was conducted in order to assess the behavior of microplastics in the Seine river catchment, in a Man-Land-Sea continuum approach. Results show that microplastic concentration varies at the seasonal scale, but also at much smaller scales, during flood events and with tides in the estuary for instance. Moreover, microplastic sampling and characterization issues emerged throughout this work. The Seine river is a 750km long river flowing in Northwestern France. It crosses the Paris megacity (12 millions inhabitants) and reaches the English Channel after a 170 km long estuary. This site is a very relevant one to assess the effect of anthropogenic pollution as the mean river flow is low (mean flow around 350m³/s) while the human presence and activities are very intense. Monthly monitoring of the microplastic concentration took place over a 19-month period and showed significant temporal variations at all sampling stations but no significant upstream-downstream increase, indicating a possible major sink to the sediment. At the scale of a major flood event (winter and spring 2018), microplastic concentration shows an evolution similar to the well-known suspended solids concentration, with an increase during the increase of the flow and a decrease during the decrease of the flow. Assessing the position of the concentration peak in relation to the flow peak was unfortunately impossible. In the estuary, concentrations vary with time in connection with tides movements and in the water column in relation to the salinity and the turbidity. Although major gains of knowledge on the microplastic dynamics in the Seine river have been obtained over the last years, major gaps remain to deal mostly with the interaction with the dynamics of the suspended solids, the selling processes in the water column and the resuspension by navigation or shear stress increase. Moreover, the development of efficient chemical characterization techniques during the 5 year period of this pluriannual research programme led to the improvement of the sampling techniques in order to access smaller microplastics (>10µm) as well as larger but rare ones (>500µm).Keywords: microplastics, Paris megacity, seine river, suspended solids
Procedia PDF Downloads 20315029 Leakage Current Analysis of FinFET Based 7T SRAM at 32nm Technology
Authors: Chhavi Saxena
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FinFETs can be a replacement for bulk-CMOS transistors in many different designs. Its low leakage/standby power property makes FinFETs a desirable option for memory sub-systems. Memory modules are widely used in most digital and computer systems. Leakage power is very important in memory cells since most memory applications access only one or very few memory rows at a given time. As technology scales down, the importance of leakage current and power analysis for memory design is increasing. In this paper, we discover an option for low power interconnect synthesis at the 32nm node and beyond, using Fin-type Field-Effect Transistors (FinFETs) which are a promising substitute for bulk CMOS at the considered gate lengths. We consider a mechanism for improving FinFETs efficiency, called variable supply voltage schemes. In this paper, we’ve illustrated the design and implementation of FinFET based 4x4 SRAM cell array by means of one bit 7T SRAM. FinFET based 7T SRAM has been designed and analysis have been carried out for leakage current, dynamic power and delay. For the validation of our design approach, the output of FinFET SRAM array have been compared with standard CMOS SRAM and significant improvements are obtained in proposed model.Keywords: FinFET, 7T SRAM cell, leakage current, delay
Procedia PDF Downloads 45915028 Health Promotion Intervention to Enhance Health Outcomes for Older Adults
Authors: Elizabeth Waleola Afolabi-Soyemi
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As the population of older adults continues to grow, improving health outcomes for this demographic has become an increasingly important public health goal. Health promotion interventions have been developed to address the unique health needs and challenges faced by older adults. This abstract reviews the literature on health promotion interventions for older adults and their effectiveness in improving health outcomes. Various interventions have been found to be effective, including physical activity programs, nutrition education, medication management, and social support programs. These interventions have been shown to improve outcomes such as functional status, quality of life, and disease management. Despite the success of these interventions, there are still barriers to their implementation, such as a lack of access to resources and inadequate funding. Further research is needed to identify effective strategies for overcoming these barriers and to develop more tailored interventions for specific populations of older adults. Overall, health promotion interventions have great potential to improve the health outcomes and quality of life of older adults and should be a priority for public health efforts.Keywords: health, humanity, health promotion, older adults
Procedia PDF Downloads 10415027 Ambivalence in Embracing Artificial Intelligence in the Units of a Public Hospital in South Africa
Authors: Sanele E. Nene L., Lia M. Hewitt
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Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) has a high value in healthcare, various applications have been developed for the efficiency of clinical operations, such as appointment/surgery scheduling, diagnostic image analysis, prognosis, prediction and management of specific ailments. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore, describe, contrast, evaluate, and develop the various leadership strategies as a conceptual framework, applied by public health Operational Managers (OMs) to embrace AI benefits, with the aim to improve the healthcare system in a public hospital. Design and Method: A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design was followed and a descriptive phenomenological approach. Five phases were followed to conduct this study. Phenomenological individual interviews and focus groups were used to collect data and a phenomenological thematic data analysis method was used. Findings and conclusion: Three themes surfaced as the experiences of AI by the OMs; Positive experiences related to AI, Management and leadership processes in AI facilitation, and Challenges related to AI.Keywords: ambivalence, embracing, Artificial intelligence, public hospital
Procedia PDF Downloads 8315026 Food Waste Utilization: A Contemporary Prospect of Meeting Energy Crisis Using Microbial Fuel Cell
Authors: Bahareh Asefi, Fereidoun Farzaneh, Ghazaleh Asefi, Chang-Ping Yu
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Increased production of food waste (FW) is a global issue that is receiving more attention due to its environmental and economic impacts. The generation of electricity from food waste, known as energy recovery, is one of the effective solutions in food waste management. Food waste has high energy content which seems ideal to achieve dual benefits in terms of energy recovery and waste stabilization. Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a promising technology for treating food waste and generate electricity. In this work, we will review energy utilization from different kind of food waste using MFC and factors which affected the process. We have studied the key technology of energy generated from food waste using MFC to enhance the food waste management. The power density and electricity production by each kind of food waste and challenges were identified. This work explored the conversion of FW into energy from different type of food waste, which aim to provide a theoretical analysis for energy utilization of food waste.Keywords: energy generation, food waste, microbial fuel cell, power density
Procedia PDF Downloads 23215025 A Development of a Conceptual Framework for Safety Culture and Safety Risk Assessment: The Case of Chinese International Construction Projects under the “New Belt and Road” Initiative in Africa
Authors: Bouba Oumarou Aboubakar, HongXia Li, Sardar Annes Farooq
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The Belt and Road Initiative’s success strongly depends on the safety of all the million workers on construction projects sites. As the new BRI is directed toward Africa and meets a completely different culture from the Chinese project managers, maintaining low risk for workers risks shall be closely related to cultural sharing and mutual understanding. This is why this work introduces a cultural-wise safety management framework for Chinese Construction projects in Africa. The theoretical contribution of this paper is an improved risk assessment framework that integrates language, culture and difficulty of controlling risk factors into one approach. Practically, this study provides not only a useful tool for project safety management practitioners but the full understanding of all risks that may arise in the BRI projects in Africa.Keywords: cultural-wise, safety culture, risk assessment, Chinese construction, BRI projects, Africa
Procedia PDF Downloads 12315024 Analysis of Different Classification Techniques Using WEKA for Diabetic Disease
Authors: Usama Ahmed
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Data mining is the process of analyze data which are used to predict helpful information. It is the field of research which solve various type of problem. In data mining, classification is an important technique to classify different kind of data. Diabetes is most common disease. This paper implements different classification technique using Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis (WEKA) on diabetes dataset and find which algorithm is suitable for working. The best classification algorithm based on diabetic data is Naïve Bayes. The accuracy of Naïve Bayes is 76.31% and take 0.06 seconds to build the model.Keywords: data mining, classification, diabetes, WEKA
Procedia PDF Downloads 15215023 Corporate Resilience Through a Sustainable Financial Function: An Innovative Model for Reconciling Sustainability and Overcoming Crises
Authors: Barzi Ghizlane, Badrane Nohayla
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In an environment characterized by a succession of economic, environmental, and social crises, companies must reassess their financial approach, not merely with a survival mindset, but with the aim of evolving and thriving in a constantly changing context. In this process, a sustainable financial function becomes imperative to ensure long-term growth. By integrating sustainable and responsible practices, companies can better identify and anticipate risks, diversify their sources of financing, and, most importantly, strengthen the management of their resources. Indeed, the sustainable financial function goes far beyond traditional financial activities of companies. It positions itself as a strategic pillar of development and growth through the adoption of green approaches that meet their immediate needs. This perspective constitutes a combination of financial performance and sustainability. Consequently, it allows companies to navigate with agility in a changing environment while ensuring increased resilience. Moreover, a company’s ability to withstand external shocks and risks is based on three fundamental pillars. First, proactive crisis management, which essentially allows for the identification and detection of vulnerabilities related to economic and social risks, while establishing efficient and flexible financial mechanisms to mitigate their impact. Second, maintaining financial transparency is crucial to strengthening stakeholder trust, attracting investors, and solidifying the company's market reputation. Finally, incorporating responsible and resilient investments, primarily based on ESG criteria, is key. The objective of this study is to explore how the green financial function can become a key driver in increasing companies’ resilience to various contemporary crises. It aims to demonstrate that the introduction of sustainable principles in financial management is a pathway to turning challenges into opportunities for growth and transformation.Keywords: finance, corporate, innovation, resilience, crises, performance
Procedia PDF Downloads 1215022 Performance Evaluation of Routing Protocol in Cognitive Radio with Multi Technological Environment
Authors: M. Yosra, A. Mohamed, T. Sami
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Over the past few years, mobile communication technologies have seen significant evolution. This fact promoted the implementation of many systems in a multi-technological setting. From one system to another, the Quality of Service (QoS) provided to mobile consumers gets better. The growing number of normalized standards extends the available services for each consumer, moreover, most of the available radio frequencies have already been allocated, such as 3G, Wifi, Wimax, and LTE. A study by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) found that certain frequency bands are partially occupied in particular locations and times. So, the idea of Cognitive Radio (CR) is to share the spectrum between a primary user (PU) and a secondary user (SU). The main objective of this spectrum management is to achieve a maximum rate of exploitation of the radio spectrum. In general, the CR can greatly improve the quality of service (QoS) and improve the reliability of the link. The problem will reside in the possibility of proposing a technique to improve the reliability of the wireless link by using the CR with some routing protocols. However, users declared that the links were unreliable and that it was an incompatibility with QoS. In our case, we choose the QoS parameter "bandwidth" to perform a supervised classification. In this paper, we propose a comparative study between some routing protocols, taking into account the variation of different technologies on the existing spectral bandwidth like 3G, WIFI, WIMAX, and LTE. Due to the simulation results, we observe that LTE has significantly higher availability bandwidth compared with other technologies. The performance of the OLSR protocol is better than other on-demand routing protocols (DSR, AODV and DSDV), in LTE technology because of the proper receiving of packets, less packet drop and the throughput. Numerous simulations of routing protocols have been made using simulators such as NS3.Keywords: cognitive radio, multi technology, network simulator (NS3), routing protocol
Procedia PDF Downloads 6615021 Artificial Intelligence for Safety Related Aviation Incident and Accident Investigation Scenarios
Authors: Bernabeo R. Alberto
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With the tremendous improvements in the processing power of computers, the possibilities of artificial intelligence will increasingly be used in aviation and make autonomous flights, preventive maintenance, ATM (Air Traffic Management) optimization, pilots, cabin crew, ground staff, and airport staff training possible in a cost-saving, less time-consuming and less polluting way. Through the use of artificial intelligence, we foresee an interviewing scenario where the interviewee will interact with the artificial intelligence tool to contextualize the character and the necessary information in a way that aligns reasonably with the character and the scenario. We are creating simulated scenarios connected with either an aviation incident or accident to enhance also the training of future accident/incident investigators integrating artificial intelligence and augmented reality tools. The project's goal is to improve the learning and teaching scenario through academic and professional expertise in aviation and in the artificial intelligence field. Thus, we intend to contribute to the needed high innovation capacity, skills, and training development and management of artificial intelligence, supported by appropriate regulations and attention to ethical problems.Keywords: artificial intelligence, aviation accident, aviation incident, risk, safety
Procedia PDF Downloads 2715020 Hydrogen Production Using an Anion-Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzer: Mathematical and Bond Graph Modeling
Authors: Hugo Daneluzzo, Christelle Rabbat, Alan Jean-Marie
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Water electrolysis is one of the most advanced technologies for producing hydrogen and can be easily combined with electricity from different sources. Under the influence of electric current, water molecules can be split into oxygen and hydrogen. The production of hydrogen by water electrolysis favors the integration of renewable energy sources into the energy mix by compensating for their intermittence through the storage of the energy produced when production exceeds demand and its release during off-peak production periods. Among the various electrolysis technologies, anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyser cells are emerging as a reliable technology for water electrolysis. Modeling and simulation are effective tools to save time, money, and effort during the optimization of operating conditions and the investigation of the design. The modeling and simulation become even more important when dealing with multiphysics dynamic systems. One of those systems is the AEM electrolysis cell involving complex physico-chemical reactions. Once developed, models may be utilized to comprehend the mechanisms to control and detect flaws in the systems. Several modeling methods have been initiated by scientists. These methods can be separated into two main approaches, namely equation-based modeling and graph-based modeling. The former approach is less user-friendly and difficult to update as it is based on ordinary or partial differential equations to represent the systems. However, the latter approach is more user-friendly and allows a clear representation of physical phenomena. In this case, the system is depicted by connecting subsystems, so-called blocks, through ports based on their physical interactions, hence being suitable for multiphysics systems. Among the graphical modelling methods, the bond graph is receiving increasing attention as being domain-independent and relying on the energy exchange between the components of the system. At present, few studies have investigated the modelling of AEM systems. A mathematical model and a bond graph model were used in previous studies to model the electrolysis cell performance. In this study, experimental data from literature were simulated using OpenModelica using bond graphs and mathematical approaches. The polarization curves at different operating conditions obtained by both approaches were compared with experimental ones. It was stated that both models predicted satisfactorily the polarization curves with error margins lower than 2% for equation-based models and lower than 5% for the bond graph model. The activation polarization of hydrogen evolution reactions (HER) and oxygen evolution reactions (OER) were behind the voltage loss in the AEM electrolyzer, whereas ion conduction through the membrane resulted in the ohmic loss. Therefore, highly active electro-catalysts are required for both HER and OER while high-conductivity AEMs are needed for effectively lowering the ohmic losses. The bond graph simulation of the polarisation curve for operating conditions at various temperatures has illustrated that voltage increases with temperature owing to the technology of the membrane. Simulation of the polarisation curve can be tested virtually, hence resulting in reduced cost and time involved due to experimental testing and improved design optimization. Further improvements can be made by implementing the bond graph model in a real power-to-gas-to-power scenario.Keywords: hydrogen production, anion-exchange membrane, electrolyzer, mathematical modeling, multiphysics modeling
Procedia PDF Downloads 9815019 Set Up Candid Clips Effectiveness
Authors: P. Suparada, D. Eakapotch
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The objectives were to analyze the using of new media in the form of set up candid clip that affects the product and presenter, to study the effectiveness of using new media in the form of set up candid clip in order to increase the circulation and audience satisfaction and to use the earned information and knowledge to develop the communication for publicizing and advertising via new media. This research is qualitative research based on questionnaire and in-depth interview from experts. The findings showed the advantages and disadvantages of communication for publicizing and advertising via new media in the form of set up candid clip including with the specific target group for this kind of advertising. It will be useful for fields of publicizing and advertising in the new media forms at the present.Keywords: candid clip, communication, new media, social network
Procedia PDF Downloads 25015018 A Holistic Analysis of the Emergency Call: From in Situ Negotiation to Policy Frameworks and Back
Authors: Jo Angouri, Charlotte Kennedy, Shawnea Ting, David Rawlinson, Matthew Booker, Nigel Rees
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Ambulance services need to balance the large volume of emergency (999 in the UK) calls they receive (e.g., West Midlands Ambulance Service reports per day about 4,000 999 calls; about 679,000 calls per year are received in Wales), with dispatching limited resource for on-site intervention to the most critical cases. The process by which Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) decisions are made is related to risk assessment and involves the caller and call-taker as well as clinical teams negotiating risk levels on a case-by-case basis. Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS – also referred to as Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch System AMPDS) are used in the UK by NHS Trusts (e.,g WAST) to process and prioritise 999 calls. MPDS / AMPDS provide structured protocols for call prioritisation and call management. Protocols/policy frameworks have not been examined before in the way we propose in our project. In more detail, the risk factors that play a role in the EMD negotiation between the caller and call-taker have been analysed in both medical and social science research. Research has focused on the structural, morphological and phonological aspects that could improve, and train, human-to-human interaction or automate risk detection, as well as the medical factors that need to be captured from the caller to inform the dispatch decision. There are two significant gaps in our knowledge that we address in our work: 1. the role of backstage clinical teams in translating the caller/call-taker interaction in their internal risk negotiation and, 2. the role of policy frameworks, protocols and regulations in the framing of institutional priorities and resource allocation. We take a multi method approach and combine the analysis of 999 calls with the analysis of policy documents. We draw on interaction analysis, corpus methodologies and thematic analysis. In this paper, we report on our preliminary findings and focus in particular on the risk factors we have identified and the relationship with the regulations that create the frame within which teams operate. We close the paper with implications of our study for providing evidence-based policy intervention and recommendations for further research.Keywords: emergency (999) call, interaction analysis, discourse analysis, ambulance dispatch, medical discourse
Procedia PDF Downloads 10615017 Post 2014 Afghanistan and Its Implications on Pakistan
Authors: Naad-E-Ali Sulehria
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This paper unfolds the facts and findings of Afghan scenario particularly its implications on Pakistan. At present, the Post 2014 withdrawal of US and ISAF combat forces from Afghan land is one of the up-to-the-minute issues among analysts of international relations. Deliberating from the current situation of Afghanistan towards its future prospects and the elements vibrating Afghanistan's internal dynamics, as well as exploitation of its resources by other states and non-state actors, are discussed accordingly. Moreover, the reasons behind such a paradigm shift in US foreign policy are tried to be contemplated with first hand knowledge. It is investigated that 'what is the current image of Afghanistan in today's world?', 'what will be its future aspects?', and 'what sort of Afghanistan does Pakistan foresees' as the concerned area of discussion.Keywords: Afghanistan, Pakistan, new great game, taliban
Procedia PDF Downloads 30415016 EU Border Externalisation in Conflict Zones: Living at and Migrating Across the Iran-Turkey Border
Authors: Karolína Augustovaá
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Turkey’s eastern borders have been at the center of criticism by the European Commission who condemns restrictions against Kurdish civilians as the result of Turkey’s military operations against terrorist organizations (namely PKK). Yet, the Commission has launched economic and political support for numerous military projects along the Iran-Turkey border to fight cross-border crime (namely “illegal” migration) along its external borders. Whilst border externalization has been extensively examined in the EU’s wide neighborhood, its analysis from the ground in conflict zones is emerging. The existing analysis also rarely considers the impact of external border management beyond international migration - on the local context and its people. However, tough externalization policies at borders, where local wars are fought, are fundamental to scrutinize as they invite us to question the effects of EU’s migration management on diverse communities navigating their life along external borders. To fill this research lacunae, this article examines intersections between the local military operations and international (EU-Turkey) migration management at the Turkey’s border with Iran and questions their impact on the everyday struggles of people living at and migrating across the border. To do so, it applies critical feminist and military literature to border studies. Methodologically, the article draws upon ethnographic research in Van (Eastern Turkey), using participant observations and interviews with sixty participants. This article argues that the EU’s externalization policies add to the violence generated by the local militarized conflict and eventually (re-)produce it in the forms of push-backs and physical violence against people who daily cross the border irregularly for their physical/economic survival. By doing so, I suggest that (inter)national fears of terrorism and migration inter-sect, materialize and affect everyday sites of diverse racialized groups living at and moving across external borders, such as international migrants (Afghans) and the local residents (Kurds) at the Turkey-Iran border. This article highlights the need to analyze the local border context in tandem with international migration management in the EU’s wider neighborhood to understand how conflict and violence evolves there.Keywords: european union border externalization, eastern turkey, migration, conflict, kurdish question
Procedia PDF Downloads 20715015 Relationship Quality, Value Creation Practices and Brand Loyalty in Virtual Communities: Evidence from Facebook Communities
Authors: Zoya Khan, Amina Muzaffar
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Social media based brand communities are communities that are developed around a brand. In the highly globalized world of today, Facebook is undoubtedly being regarded and has been widely recognized as a trendy and well-accepted medium of marketing. By means of a Facebook fan page, organizations can effectually create, enhance, and sustain customer-brand relationship. In this article, we explore whether brand communities based on social media (a special type of online brand communities) have positive effects on the main community elements and value creation practices in the communities as well as on brand trust and brand loyalty. A survey was conducted and 201 valid responses were used for analysis. The results of structural equation modeling show that brand communities established on social media have positive effects on value creation practices. Brand use, impression management practices and brand identification has an impact on brand trust and this brand trust then further leads to brand loyalty.Keywords: relationship quality, impression management practices, brand identification, brand trust, brand loyalty
Procedia PDF Downloads 48115014 Development of PSS/E Dynamic Model for Controlling Battery Output to Improve Frequency Stability in Power Systems
Authors: Dae-Hee Son, Soon-Ryul Nam
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The power system frequency falls when disturbance such as rapid increase of system load or loss of a generating unit occurs in power systems. Especially, increase in the number of renewable generating units has a bad influence on the power system because of loss of generating unit depending on the circumstance. Conventional technologies use frequency droop control battery output for the frequency regulation and balance between supply and demand. If power is supplied using the fast output characteristic of the battery, power system stability can be further more improved. To improve the power system stability, we propose battery output control using ROCOF (Rate of Change of Frequency) in this paper. The bigger the power difference between the supply and the demand, the bigger the ROCOF drops. Battery output is controlled proportionally to the magnitude of the ROCOF, allowing for faster response to power imbalances. To simulate the control method of battery output system, we develop the user defined model using PSS/E and confirm that power system stability is improved by comparing with frequency droop control.Keywords: PSS/E user defined model, power deviation, frequency droop control, ROCOF (rate of change of frequency)
Procedia PDF Downloads 41915013 Downtime Estimation of Building Structures Using Fuzzy Logic
Authors: M. De Iuliis, O. Kammouh, G. P. Cimellaro, S. Tesfamariam
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Community Resilience has gained a significant attention due to the recent unexpected natural and man-made disasters. Resilience is the process of maintaining livable conditions in the event of interruptions in normally available services. Estimating the resilience of systems, ranging from individuals to communities, is a formidable task due to the complexity involved in the process. The most challenging parameter involved in the resilience assessment is the 'downtime'. Downtime is the time needed for a system to recover its services following a disaster event. Estimating the exact downtime of a system requires a lot of inputs and resources that are not always obtainable. The uncertainties in the downtime estimation are usually handled using probabilistic methods, which necessitates acquiring large historical data. The estimation process also involves ignorance, imprecision, vagueness, and subjective judgment. In this paper, a fuzzy-based approach to estimate the downtime of building structures following earthquake events is proposed. Fuzzy logic can integrate descriptive (linguistic) knowledge and numerical data into the fuzzy system. This ability allows the use of walk down surveys, which collect data in a linguistic or a numerical form. The use of fuzzy logic permits a fast and economical estimation of parameters that involve uncertainties. The first step of the method is to determine the building’s vulnerability. A rapid visual screening is designed to acquire information about the analyzed building (e.g. year of construction, structural system, site seismicity, etc.). Then, a fuzzy logic is implemented using a hierarchical scheme to determine the building damageability, which is the main ingredient to estimate the downtime. Generally, the downtime can be divided into three main components: downtime due to the actual damage (DT1); downtime caused by rational and irrational delays (DT2); and downtime due to utilities disruption (DT3). In this work, DT1 is computed by relating the building damageability results obtained from the visual screening to some already-defined components repair times available in the literature. DT2 and DT3 are estimated using the REDITM Guidelines. The Downtime of the building is finally obtained by combining the three components. The proposed method also allows identifying the downtime corresponding to each of the three recovery states: re-occupancy; functional recovery; and full recovery. Future work is aimed at improving the current methodology to pass from the downtime to the resilience of buildings. This will provide a simple tool that can be used by the authorities for decision making.Keywords: resilience, restoration, downtime, community resilience, fuzzy logic, recovery, damage, built environment
Procedia PDF Downloads 16415012 Cochlear Implants and the Emerging Therapies for Managing Hearing Loss
Authors: Hesham Kozou
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Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) poses a significant challenge due to limited access to the inner ear for therapies. Emerging treatments such as regenerative, genetic, and pharmacotherapies offer hope for addressing this condition. This study aims to highlight the potential of cochlear implants and emerging therapies in managing sensorineural hearing loss by improving access to the inner ear. The study is conducted through a review of relevant literature and research articles in the field of cochlear implants and emerging therapies for hearing loss. It outlines how advancements in cochlear implant technologies, electrodes, and surgical techniques can facilitate the delivery of therapies to the inner ear, potentially revolutionizing the treatment of sensorineural hearing loss. The study underscores the potential of cochlear implants and emerging therapies in revolutionizing the treatment landscape for sensorineural hearing loss, emphasizing the feasibility of curing this condition by leveraging technological advancements.Keywords: therapies for hearing loss management, future of CI as a cochlear delivery channel, regenerative, genetic and pharmacotherapeutic management of hearing loss
Procedia PDF Downloads 53