Search results for: Shannon information theory

Authors: Wided Bakari, Patrce Bellot, Mahmoud Neji

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With the development of electronic media and the heterogeneity of Arabic data on the Web, the idea of building a clean corpus for certain applications of natural language processing, including machine translation, information retrieval, question answer, become more and more pressing. In this manuscript, we seek to create and develop our own corpus of pair’s questions-texts. This constitution then will provide a better base for our experimentation step. Thus, we try to model this constitution by a method for Arabic insofar as it recovers texts from the web that could prove to be answers to our factual questions. To do this, we had to develop a java script that can extract from a given query a list of html pages. Then clean these pages to the extent of having a database of texts and a corpus of pair’s question-texts. In addition, we give preliminary results of our proposal method. Some investigations for the construction of Arabic corpus are also presented in this document.

Keywords: Arabic, web, corpus, search engine, URL, question, corpus building, script, Google, html, txt

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Authors: Ammar Asma, Bouafia Nabiha, Dhahri Meriem, Ben Cheikh Asma, Ezzi Olfa, Chafai Rim, Njah Mansour

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Despite recent advances in treatment of the lung cancer patients, the prognosis remains poor. Information is limited regarding health related quality of life (QOL) status of advanced lung cancer patients. The purposes of this study were: to assess patient reported symptom burden, to measure their QOL, and to identify determinant factors associated with QOL. Materials/Methods: A cross sectional study of 60 patients was carried out from over the period of 03 months from February 1st to 30 April 2016. Patients were recruited in two department of health care: Pneumology department in a university hospital in Sousse and an oncology unit in a University Hospital in Kairouan. Patients with advanced stage (III and IV) of lung cancer who were hospitalized or admitted in the day hospital were recruited by convenience sampling. We used a questionnaire administrated and completed by a trained interviewer. This questionnaire is composed of three parts: demographic, clinical and therapeutic information’s, QOL measurements: based on the SF-36 questionnaire, Symptom’s burden measurement using the Lung Cancer Symptom Scale (LCSS). To assess Correlation between symptoms burden and QOL, we compared the scores of two scales two by two using the Pearson correlation. To identify factors influencing QOL in Lung cancer, a univariate statistical analysis then, a stepwise backward approach, wherein the variables with p< 0.2, were carried out to determine the association between SF-36 scores and different variables. Results: During the study period, 60 patients consented to complete symptom and quality of life questionnaires at a single point time (72% were recruited from day hospital). The majority of patients were male (88%), age ranged from 21 to 79 years with a mean of 60.5 years. Among patients, 48 (80%) were diagnosed as having non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). Approximately, 60 % (n=36) of patients were in stage IV, 25 % in stage IIIa and 15 % in stage IIIb. For symptom burden, the symptom burden index was 43.07 (Standard Deviation, 21.45). Loss of appetite and fatigue were rated as the most severe symptoms with mean scores (SD): 49.6 (25.7) and 58.2 (15.5). The average overall score of SF36 was 39.3 (SD, 15.4). The physical and emotional limitations had the lowest scores. Univariate analysis showed that factors which influence negatively QOL were: married status (p<0.03), smoking cessation after diagnosis (p<0.024), LCSS total score (p<0.001), LCSS symptom burden index (p<0.001), fatigue (p<0.001), loss of appetite (p<0.001), dyspnea (p<0.001), pain (p<0.002), and metastatic stage (p<0.01). In multivariate analysis, unemployment (p<0.014), smoking cessation after diagnosis (p<0.013), consumption of analgesic (p<0.002) and the indication of an analgesic radiotherapy (p<0.001) are revealed as independent determinants of QOL. The result of the correlation analyses between total LCSS scores and the total and individual domain SF36 scores was significant (p<0.001); the higher total LCSS score is, the poorer QOL is. Conclusion: A built in support of lung cancer patients would better control the symptoms and promote the QOL of these patients.

Keywords: quality of life, lung cancer, metastasis, symptoms burden

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Authors: Elkington Sibusiso Mnguni

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The Mokolo-Crocodile Water Augmentation Project (MCWAP) is located in the Limpopo Province in the northern-western part of South Africa. Its purpose is to increase water supply by 30 million cubic meters per year to meet current and future demand for users, including power stations, mining houses, and the local municipality in the Lephalale area. This paper documents the planning and implementation aspects of the MCWAP infrastructure project. The study will add to the body of knowledge with respect to bulk water infrastructure development in water-scarce regions. The method used to gather and collate relevant data and information was the desktop study. The key finding was that the project was successfully completed in 2015 using conventional project management and construction methods. The project is currently being operated and maintained by the National Department of Water and Sanitation.

Keywords: construction, contract management, infrastructure project, project management

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Authors: Minh Dong Le, Viet Dung Nguyen, Do Huu Viet, Nguyen Huu Tu

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In this paper, we present a new method for circumscribed masses detection in mammograms. Our method is evaluated on 23 mammographic images of circumscribed masses and 20 normal mammograms from public Mini-MIAS database. The method is quite sanguine with sensitivity (SE) of 95% with only about 1 false positive per image (FPpI). To achieve above results we carry out a progression following: Firstly, the input images are preprocessed with the aim to enhance key information of circumscribed masses; Next, we calculate and evaluate statistically basic features of abnormal regions on training database; Then, mammograms on testing database are divided into equal blocks which calculated corresponding features. Finally, using priority order of basic features to classify blocks as an abnormal or normal regions.

Keywords: mammograms, circumscribed masses, evaluated statistically, priority order of basic features

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Authors: Lily Ye

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The contemporary fashion industry has witnessed the global rise of Chinese fashion designers. China plays more and more important role in this sector globally. One of the key debates in contemporary time is the conception of Chinese fashion. A close look at previous discussions on Chinese fashion reveals that most of them are explored through the lens of cultural knowledge and assumptions, using the dichotomous models of East and West. The results of these studies generate an essentialist and orientalist notion of Chinoiserie and Chinese fashion, which sees individual designers from China as undifferential collective members marked by a unique and fixed set of cultural scripts. This study challenges this essentialist conceptualization and brings fresh insights to the discussion of Chinese fashion identity against the backdrop of globalisation. Different from a culturalist approach to researching Chinese fashion, this paper presents an alternative position to address the research agenda through the mobilisation of Giddens’ (1991) theory of reflexive identity formation, privileging individuals’ agency and reflexivity. This approach to the discussion of identity formation not only challenges the traditional view seeing identity as the distinctive and essential characteristics belonging to any given individual or shared by all members of a particular social category or group but highlights fashion designers’ strategic agency and their role as fashion activist. This study draws evidence from a textual analysis of published stories of a group of established Chinese designers such as Guo Pei, Huishan Zhang, Masha Ma, Uma Wang, and Ma Ke. In line with Giddens’ concept of 'reflexive project of the self', this study uses a narrative methodology. Narratives are verbal accounts or stories relating to experiences of Chinese fashion designers. This approach offers the fashion designers a chance to 'speak' for themselves and show the depths and complexities of their experiences. It also emphasises the nuances of identity formation in fashion designers, whose experiences cannot be captured in neat typologies. Thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006) is adopted to identify and investigate common themes across the whole dataset. At the centre of the analysis is individuals’ self-articulation of their perceptions, experiences and themselves in relation to culture, fashion and identity. The finding indicates that identity is constructed around anchors such as agency, cultural hybridity, reflexivity and sustainability rather than traditional collective categories such as culture and ethnicity. Thus, the old East-West dichotomy is broken down, and essentialised social categories are challenged by the multiplicity and fragmentation of self and cultural hybridity created within designers’ 'small narratives'.

Keywords: Chinoiserie, fashion identity, fashion activism, narrative inquiry

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Authors: Patrizia Poscic, Sanja Candrlic, Danijela Jaksic

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The University of Rijeka, Department of Informatics participated in the Stand4Info project, co-financed by the European Union, with the main idea of an alignment of study programs with occupational and qualifications standards in the field of Informatics. A brief overview of our research methodology, goals and deliverables is shown. Our main research and project objectives were: a) development of occupational standards, qualification standards and study programs based on the Croatian Qualifications Framework (CROQF), b) higher education quality improvement in the field of information and communication sciences, c) increasing the employability of students of information and communication technology (ICT) and science, and d) continuously improving competencies of teachers in accordance with the principles of CROQF. CROQF is a reform instrument in the Republic of Croatia for regulating the system of qualifications at all levels through qualifications standards based on learning outcomes and following the needs of the labor market, individuals and society. The central elements of CROQF are learning outcomes - competences acquired by the individual through the learning process and proved afterward. The place of each acquired qualification is set by the level of the learning outcomes belonging to that qualification. The placement of qualifications at respective levels allows the comparison and linking of different qualifications, as well as linking of Croatian qualifications' levels to the levels of the European Qualifications Framework and the levels of the Qualifications framework of the European Higher Education Area. This research has made 3 proposals of occupational standards for undergraduate study level (System Analyst, Developer, ICT Operations Manager), and 2 for graduate (master) level (System Architect, Business Architect). For each occupational standard employers have provided a list of key tasks and associated competencies necessary to perform them. A set of competencies required for each particular job in the workplace was defined and each set of competencies as described in more details by its individual competencies. Based on sets of competencies from occupational standards, sets of learning outcomes were defined and competencies from the occupational standard were linked with learning outcomes. For each learning outcome, as well as for the set of learning outcomes, it was necessary to specify verification method, material, and human resources. The task of the project was to suggest revision and improvement of the existing study programs. It was necessary to analyze existing programs and determine how they meet and fulfill defined learning outcomes. This way, one could see: a) which learning outcomes from the qualifications standards are covered by existing courses, b) which learning outcomes have yet to be covered, c) are they covered by mandatory or elective courses, and d) are some courses unnecessary or redundant. Overall, the main research results are: a) completed proposals of qualification and occupational standards in the field of ICT, b) revised curricula of undergraduate and master study programs in ICT, c) sustainable partnership and association stakeholders network, d) knowledge network - informing the public and stakeholders (teachers, students, and employers) about the importance of CROQF establishment, and e) teachers educated in innovative methods of teaching.

Keywords: study program, qualification standard, occupational standard, higher education, informatics and computer science

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Authors: Ayesha M. Facey

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The evaluation sought to determine the factors associated with the high failure rate among students taking a first-year introductory statistics course. By utilizing Tyler’s Objective Based Model, the main objectives were: to assess the effectiveness of the lecturer’s teaching strategies; to determine the proportion of students who attends lectures and tutorials frequently and to determine the impact of infrequent attendance on performance; to determine how the assigned activities assisted in students understanding of the course content; to ascertain the possible issues being faced by students in understanding the course material and obtain possible solutions to the challenges and to determine whether the learning outcomes have been achieved based on an assessment of the second in-course examination. A quantitative survey research strategy was employed and the study population was students enrolled in semester one of the academic year 2015/2016. A convenience sampling approach was employed resulting in a sample of 98 students. Primary data was collected using self-administered questionnaires over a one-week period. Secondary data was obtained from the results of the second in-course examination. Data were entered and analyzed in SPSS version 22 and both univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted on the information obtained from the questionnaires. Univariate analyses provided description of the sample through means, standard deviations and percentages while bivariate analyses were done using Spearman’s Rho correlation coefficient and Chi-square analyses. For secondary data, an item analysis was performed to obtain the reliability of the examination questions, difficulty index and discriminant index. The examination results also provided information on the weak areas of the students and highlighted the learning outcomes that were not achieved. Findings revealed that students were more likely to participate in lectures than tutorials and that attendance was high for both lectures and tutorials. There was a significant relationship between participation in lectures and performance on examination. However, a high proportion of students has been absent from three or more tutorials as well as lectures. A higher proportion of students indicated that they completed the assignments obtained from the lectures sometimes while they rarely completed tutorial worksheets. Students who were more likely to complete their assignments were significantly more likely to perform well on their examination. Additionally, students faced a number of challenges in understanding the course content and the topics of probability, binomial distribution and normal distribution were the most challenging. The item analysis also highlighted these topics as problem areas. Problems doing mathematics and application and analyses were their major challenges faced by students and most students indicated that some of the challenges could be alleviated if additional examples were worked in lectures and they were given more time to solve questions. Analysis of the examination results showed that a number of learning outcomes were not achieved for a number of topics. Based on the findings recommendations were made that suggested adjustments to grade allocations, delivery of lectures and methods of assessment.

Keywords: evaluation, item analysis, Tyler’s objective based model, university statistics

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Authors: Du Zhiqin

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WeChat is an instant messaging service similar to WhatsApp developed by Tencent, one of China's largest and most used Internet service portals. This paper investigates the penetration of WeChat among university students through a questionnaire, analyzes the effect of brand influence, information quality, interactivity, opinions of opinion-leaders, promotion, personal interests on the attitudes of university students towards WeChat marketing. This paper concludes that the penetration rate of WeChat marketing among university students is generally high enough, WeChat has generally been accepted by students as a way for businesses to market their products, and that all the above-mentioned five factors play a positive role in the process of WeChat marketing. It also proposes that businesses could maximize the effect of WeChat marketing by focusing more resources on the increase of brand influence, and the interactivity of WeChat contents and the use of opinions of opinion-leaders.

Keywords: WeChat, university students, marketing, AISAS

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Authors: J. Chandrasekhar Rao, B. G. Naidu, G. J. Naga Raju, P. Sarita

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Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS) techniques have been employed in this work to determine the elements present in the root of Cyperus rotundus medicinal plant used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The elements V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Rb, and Sr were commonly identified and quantified by both PIXE and ICP-MS whereas the elements Li, Be, Al, As, Se, Ag, Cd, Ba, Tl, Pb and U were determined by ICP-MS and Cl, K, Ca, Ti and Br were determined by PIXE. The regional variation of elemental content has also been studied by analyzing the same plant collected from different geographical locations. Information on the elemental content of the medicinal plant would be helpful in correlating its ability in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and also in deciding the dosage of this herbal medicine from the metal toxicity point of view. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis were also applied to the data matrix to understand the correlation among the elements.

Keywords: PIXE, CP-MS, elements, Cyperus rotundus, rheumatoid arthritis

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Authors: M. Khorshed Alam, H. Takaba

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The catalytic properties of metal usually change by intermixturing with another metal in polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Pt-Ru alloy is one of the much-talked used alloy to enhance the CO oxidation. In this work, we have investigated the CO coverage on the Pt2Ru3 nanoparticle with different atomic conformation of Pt and Ru using a combination of material informatics with computational chemistry. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations used to describe the adsorption strength of CO and H with different conformation of Pt Ru ratio in the Pt2Ru3 slab surface. Then through the Monte Carlo (MC) simulations we examined the segregation behaviour of Pt as a function of surface atom ratio, subsurface atom ratio, particle size of the Pt2Ru3 nanoparticle. We have constructed a regression equation so as to reproduce the results of DFT only from the structural descriptors. Descriptors were selected for the regression equation; xa-b indicates the number of bonds between targeted atom a and neighboring atom b in the same layer (a,b = Pt or Ru). Terms of xa-H2 and xa-CO represent the number of atoms a binding H2 and CO molecules, respectively. xa-S is the number of atom a on the surface. xa-b- is the number of bonds between atom a and neighboring atom b located outside the layer. The surface segregation in the alloying nanoparticles is influenced by their component elements, composition, crystal lattice, shape, size, nature of the adsorbents and its pressure, temperature etc. Simulations were performed on different size (2.0 nm, 3.0 nm) of nanoparticle that were mixing of Pt and Ru atoms in different conformation considering of temperature range 333K. In addition to the Pt2Ru3 alloy we also considered pure Pt and Ru nanoparticle to make comparison of surface coverage by adsorbates (H2, CO). Hence, we assumed the pure and Pt-Ru alloy nanoparticles have an fcc crystal structures as well as a cubo-octahedron shape, which is bounded by (111) and (100) facets. Simulations were performed up to 50 million MC steps. From the results of MC, in the presence of gases (H2, CO), the surfaces are occupied by the gas molecules. In the equilibrium structure the coverage of H and CO as a function of the nature of surface atoms. In the initial structure, the Pt/Ru ratios on the surfaces for different cluster sizes were in range of 0.50 - 0.95. MC simulation was employed when the partial pressure of H2 (PH2) and CO (PCO) were 70 kPa and 100-500 ppm, respectively. The Pt/Ru ratios decrease as the increase in the CO concentration, without little exception only for small nanoparticle. The adsorption strength of CO on the Ru site is higher than the Pt site that would be one of the reason for decreasing the Pt/Ru ratio on the surface. Therefore, our study identifies that controlling the nanoparticle size, composition, conformation of alloying atoms, concentration and chemical potential of adsorbates have impact on the steadiness of nanoparticle alloys which ultimately and also overall catalytic performance during the operations.

Keywords: anode catalysts, fuel cells, material informatics, Monte Carlo

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Authors: Taner Ersoz, Filiz Ersoz, Seyma Ozbilge

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In this study, the clients who applied to a bank branch for loan were analyzed through data mining. The study was composed of the information such as amounts of loans received by personal and SME clients working with the bank branch, installment numbers, number of delays in loan installments, payments available in other banks and number of banks to which they are in debt between 2010 and 2013. The client risk profile was examined through Classification and Regression Tree (CART) analysis, one of the decision tree classification methods. At the end of the study, 5 different types of customers have been determined on the decision tree. The classification of these types of customers has been created with the rating of those posing a risk for the bank branch and the customers have been classified according to the risk ratings.

Keywords: client classification, loan suitability, risk rating, CART analysis

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Authors: Florence Nyemba, Rufaro Chitiyo

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This work features the voices of women as they describe their experiences living in the diaspora either with their families or alone. The contributing authors of this work pursued this project to understand how the women’s personal lives (and those of their families back home) changed (both positively and negatively). The work addressed the following important questions, what is female migration? What are the factors causing women to migrate? What types of migration do women engage in? What is the influence of family relationships on migration? What are the challenges of migration? How do migrant women maintain ties with their home countries? What is the role of social networks in migration? How can feminist theories and methodologies be incorporated in migration studies? Women continue to contribute significantly to mass movements of people across the yet, their voices silent in the literature on migration. History shows that women have always been on the move trying to make a living just like their male counterparts. Whether they migrate as spouses, daughters, or alone, women make up a sizeable portion of migration statistics around the world. These women are migrating independently without the accompaniment of male relatives. This calls for the need to expand research on women as independent migrants without generalizing their experiences as in the case with early studies on international migration. The goal of this work is to offer a rich and detailed description of the lives of immigrant women across the globe using theoretical frameworks that advance gender and migration research. Methodology: This work invited scholars and researchers from across the globe whose research interests were in gender and migration. The work incorporated a variety of methodologies for data collection and analysis, which included oral narratives, interviews, systematic literature reviews and interviews. Conclusion: There is a considerable amount of interest in various topics on gender, violence, and equality throughout social science disciplines in higher education. Therefore, the three major topics covered in this work, Women’s Immigration: Theories and Methodologies, Women as Migrant Workers, and Women as Refugees, Asylees, and Permanent Migrants, can be of interest across social sciences disciplines. Feminist theories can expand the curriculum on identity and gendered roles and norms in societies. Findings of this work advance knowledge of population movements across the globe. This work will also appeal to students and scholars wanting to expand their knowledge on women and migration, migration theories, gender violence, and women empowerment. The topics and issues presented in this work will also assist the international community and lawyers concerned with global migration.

Keywords: gender, feminism, identity formation, international migration

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Authors: Jamal A. Gledan, Akrm H. Algnin

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The Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite-based technology has been utilized extensively in the last few years in a wide range of Geomatics and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications. One of the main challenges dealing with GPS-based heights consists of converting them into Mean Sea Level (MSL) heights which is used in surveys and mapping. In this research work, differences in heights of 50 points, in northern part of Libya were carried out using both ordinary levelling (in which Geoid is the reference datum) and GPS techniques (in which Ellipsoid is the reference datum). In addition, this study has utilized the EGM2008 model to obtain the undulation values between the ellipsoidal and orthometric heights. From these values with ellipsoidal heights which can be obtained from GPS observations to compute the orthomteric heights. This research presented a suitable alternative, from an economical point of view, to substitute the expensive traditional levelling technique particularly for topographic mapping.

Keywords: geoid undulation, GPS, ordinary and geodetic levelling, orthometric height

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Authors: Khaled A. Abdel-Sater

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There are four areas of the temporal lobe. Primary auditory area (areas 41 and 42); it is for the perception of auditory impulse, auditory association area (area 22, 21, and 20): Areas 21 and 20 are for understanding and interpretation of auditory sensation, recognition of language, and long-term memories. Area 22, also called Wernicke’s area, and a sensory speech centre. It is for interpretation of auditory and visual information, formation of thoughts in the mind, and choice of words to be used. Ideas and thoughts originate in it. The limbic system is a part of cortical and subcortical structure forming a ring around the brainstem. Cortical structures are the orbitofrontal area, subcallosal gyrus, cingulate gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, and uncus. Subcortical structures are the hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdala, septum, paraolfactory area, anterior nucleus of the thalamus portions of the basal ganglia. There are several physiological functions of the limbic system, including regulation of behavior, motivation, and emotion.

Keywords: limbic system, motivation, emotions, temporal lobe

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Authors: Alexander Sutor, David Demetz

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We present methods for developing wireless and traceable sensors for photobioreactors or photoreactors in general. The main focus of application are reactors which are wirelessly powered. Due to the promising properties of the propagation of magnetic fields under water we implemented an inductive link with an on/off switched hartley-oscillator as transmitter and an LC-tank as receiver. For this inductive link we used a carrier frequency of 298 kHz. With this system we performed measurements to demonstrate the independence of the magnetic field from water or salty water. In contrast we showed the strongly reduced range of RF-transmitter-receiver systems at higher frequencies (433 MHz and 2.4 GHz) in water and in salty water. For implementing the traceability of the sensors, we performed measurements to show the well defined orientation of the magnetic field of a coil. This information will be used in future work for implementing an inductive link based traceability system for our sensors.

Keywords: wireless sensors, photoreactor, internal illumination, wireless power

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Authors: Abdulla D. Alblooshi

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The stock market is a representation of human behavior and psychology, such as fear, greed, and discipline. Those are manifested in the form of price movements during the trading sessions. Therefore, predicting the stock movement and prices is a challenging effort. However, those trading sessions produce a large amount of data that can be utilized to train an AI agent for the purpose of predicting the stock movement. Predicting the stock market price action will be advantageous. In this paper, the stock movement data of three DFM listed stocks are studied using historical price movements and technical indicators value and used to train an agent using KNN and SVM methods to predict the future price movement. MATLAB Toolbox and a simple script is written to process and classify the information and output the prediction. It will also compare the different learning methods and parameters s using metrics like RMSE, MAE, and R².

Keywords: KNN, ANN, style, SVM, stocks, technical indicators, RSI, MACD, moving averages, RMSE, MAE

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Authors: Deokyeong Choe, Jae Eun Nam, Young Hoon Roh, Chul Soo Shin

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The development of hydrogels with a high mechanical strength is important for numerous applications of hydrogels. As a material for tough hydrogels, cellulose has attracted much interest. However, cellulose cannot be melted and is very difficult to be dissolved in most solvents. Therefore, its dissolution in tetrabutylammonium fluoride/dimethyl sulfoxide (TBAF/DMSO) solvents has attracted researchers for chemical processing of cellulose. For this reason, studies about rheological properties of cellulose/TBAF/DMSO solution will provide useful information. In this study, viscosities of cellulose solutions prepared using different amounts of cellulose and TBAF in DMSO were measured. As expected, the viscosity of cellulose solution decreased with respect to the increasing volume of DMSO. The most viscose cellulose solution was achieved at a 1:1 mass ratio of cellulose to TBAF regardless of their contents in DMSO. At a 1:1 mass ratio of cellulose to TBAF, the formation of cellulose nanoparticles (467 nm) resulted in a dramatic increase in the viscosity, which led to the fabrication of 3D cellulose hydrogels.

Keywords: cellulose, TBAF/DMSO, viscosity, hydrogel

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Authors: Mami Sugiura, Shinichi Arakawa, Masayuki Murata, Satoshi Imai, Toru Katagiri, Motoyoshi Sekiya

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API (Application Programming Interface) economy, where many participants join/interact and form the economy, is expected to increase collaboration between information services through API, and thereby, it is expected to increase market value from the service collaborations. In this paper, we introduce API evaluators, which are the activator of API economy by reviewing and/or evaluating APIs, and develop a multi-sided API economy model that formulates interactions among platform provider, API developers, consumers, and API evaluators. By obtaining the equilibrium that maximizes utility of all participants, the impact of API evaluators on the utility of participants in the API economy is revealed. Numerical results show that, with the existence of API evaluators, the number of developers and consumers increase by 1.5% and the utility of platformer increases by 2.3%. We also discuss the strategies of platform provider to maximize its utility under the existence of API evaluators.

Keywords: API economy, multi-sided markets, API evaluator, platform, platform provider

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Authors: Markus Mazzola, Gunther Schaaf

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A vehicle driving with an Adaptive Cruise Control System (ACC) is usually controlled decentrally, based on the information of radar systems and in some publications based on C2X-Communication (CACC) to guarantee stable platoons. In this paper, we present a Model Predictive Control (MPC) design of a centralized, server-based ACC-System, whereby the vehicular platoon is modeled and controlled as a whole. It is then proven that the proposed MPC design guarantees asymptotic stability and hence string stability of the platoon. The Networked MPC design is chosen to be able to integrate system constraints optimally as well as to reduce the effects of communication delay and packet loss. The performance of the proposed controller is then simulated and analyzed in an LTE communication scenario using the LTE/EPC Network Simulator LENA, which is based on the ns-3 network simulator.

Keywords: adaptive cruise control, centralized server, networked model predictive control, string stability

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Authors: Haluk Eren, Mucahit Karaduman

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This paper presents 15-year trends for scientific studies in a scientific database considering 3D and vehicle words. Two words are selected to find their associated publications in IEEE scholar database. Both of keywords are entered individually for the years 2002, 2012, and 2016 on the database to identify the preferred subjects of researchers in same years. We have classified closer research fields after searching and listing. Three years (2002, 2012, and 2016) have been investigated to figure out progress in specified time intervals. The first one is assumed as the initial progress in between 2002-2012, and the second one is in 2012-2016 that is fast development duration. We have found very interesting and beneficial results to understand the scholars’ research field preferences for a decade. This information will be highly desirable in smart city-based research purposes consisting of 3D and vehicle-related issues.

Keywords: Vehicle, three-dimensional, smart city, scholarly search, semantic

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Authors: G. Carrero, C. Contreras, M. J. Hendzel

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Linker histones or histones H1 are highly mobile nuclear proteins that regulate the organization of chromatin and limit DNA accessibility by binding to the chromatin structure (DNA and associated proteins). It is known that this binding process is driven by both slow (strong binding) and rapid (weak binding) interactions. However, the exact binding mechanism has not been fully described. Moreover, the existing models only account for one type of bound population that does not distinguish explicitly between the weakly and strongly bound proteins. Thus, we propose different systems of reaction-diffusion equations to describe explicitly the rapid and slow interactions during a FRAP (Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching) experiment. We perform a model comparison analysis to characterize the binding mechanism of histone H1 and provide new meaningful biophysical information on the kinetics of histone H1.

Keywords: FRAP (Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching), histone H1, histone H1 binding kinetics, linker histone, reaction-diffusion equation

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Authors: Rute Abreu, Fátima David, Liliane Cristina Segura

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The Deposit Guarantee Fund (DGF) and its communication with the Society, in general, and with the deposit client of Financial Institutions, in particular, is discussed through the challenges of the accounting and financial report. The Bank of Portugal promotes the Portuguese Deposit Guarantee Fund (PDGF) as a financial institution that enhanced the market confidence and stability on the deposit-insurance system. Due to the nature of their functions, it must be subject to regulation and supervision that provides a first line of defense against adversely affect confidence on the Portuguese financial market. First, this research provides evidence of the effectiveness of the protection mechanisms on the deposit insurance system, which provides high and equal protection to all stakeholders. Second, it emphasizes the need of requirements of rigorous accounting process and effective financial report to reduce the moral hazard implications. Third, this research focuses on the need of total disclosure of the financial information which gives higher transparency and protection to deposit client of financial institutions.

Keywords: deposit guarantee fund, Portugal, accounting, financial report

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Authors: Sharon Garyn-Tal, Shoshana Shahrabani

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Military service in general, and in combat units in particular, can be physically and psychologically stressful. Therefore, type of service may have significant implications for soldiers during and after their military service including emotions, judgments and risk perceptions. Previous studies have focused on risk propensity and risky behavior among soldiers, however there is still lack of knowledge on the impact of type of army service on risk perceptions. The current study examines the effect of type of army service (combat versus non-combat service) and negative incidental emotions on risk perceptions. In 2014 a survey was conducted among 153 combat and non-combat Israeli soldiers. The survey was distributed in train stations and central bus stations in various places in Israel among soldiers waiting for the train/bus. Participants answered questions related to the levels of incidental negative emotions they felt, to their risk perceptions (chances to be hurt by terror attack, by violent crime and by car accident), and personal details including type of army service. The data in this research is unique because military service in Israel is compulsory, so that the Israeli population serving in the army is wide and diversified. The results indicate that currently serving combat participants were more pessimistic in their risk perceptions (for all type of risks) compared to the currently serving non-combat participants. Since combat participants probably experienced severe and distressing situations during their service, they became more pessimistic regarding their probabilities of being hurt in different situations in life. This result supports the availability heuristic theory and the findings of previous studies indicating that those who directly experience distressing events tend to overestimate danger. The findings also indicate that soldiers who feel higher levels of incidental fear and anger have pessimistic risk perceptions. In addition, respondents who experienced combat army service also have pessimistic risk perceptions if they feel higher levels of fear. In addition, the findings suggest that higher levels of the incidental emotions of fear and anger are related to more pessimistic risk perceptions. These results can be explained by the compulsory army service in Israel that constitutes a focused threat to soldiers' safety during their period of service. Thus, in this stressful environment, negative incidental emotions even during routine times correlate with higher risk perceptions. In conclusion, the current study results suggest that combat army service shapes risk perceptions and the way young people control their negative incidental emotions in everyday life. Recognizing the factors affecting risk perceptions among soldiers is important for better understanding the impact of army service on young people.

Keywords: army service, combat soldiers, incidental emotions, risk perceptions

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Authors: D. Bąk-Grabowska, K. Grzesik, A. Iwanicka, A. Jagoda

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The process of human resources management in the structures of corporate groups demonstrates certain specificity, resulting from the division of decision-making and executive competencies, which occurs within these structures between a parent company and its subsidiaries. The subprocess of employee assessment is considered crucial, since it provides information for the implementation of personnel function. The empirical studies conducted in corporate groups, within which at least one company is located in Poland, confirmed the critical significance of employee assessment systems in the process of human resources management in corporate groups. Parent companies, most often, retain their decision-making authority within the framework of the discussed process and introduce uniform employee assessment and personnel controlling systems to subsidiary companies. However, the instruments for employee assessment applied in corporate groups do not present such specificity.

Keywords: corporate groups, employee periodical assessment system, holding, human resources management

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Authors: Peninah Agaba, Monica Magadi, Bev Orton

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Uganda is one of the countries with high maternal mortality (336/100,000) where adolescents account for 24 percent of the total maternal deaths. Research shows that use of maternal health services may prevent some of these deaths and good provider attitudes attract adolescents to use the services. However, poor health provider’s attitudes discourage adolescents from seeking the services during the maternity period. This study explores the experiences of unmarried female adolescents at the health facilities during the maternity period. The study population is unmarried adolescent girls aged 10-19 years who were pregnant or had given birth within three years before the interview. This is a special interest group that requires attention throughout this period. Most of the pregnancies among unmarried adolescents are unwanted; as a result, many of them have been abused and neglected by parents and close family members including partners who deny fatherhood of the pregnancy/child. These adolescents hope to find comfort from health providers like being listened to during counseling, not abused and judged; unfortunately this is not the case always. The research was approved by the University of Hull, School of Education and Social Sciences ethics review committee, Mildmay Uganda Research Ethics Committee and Uganda National Council of Science and Technology. The study was carried out in Bushenyi and Kibale districts in Western Uganda. Fourteen in-depth interviews and seven focus group discussions were completed in the local languages and later transcribed to English language. Thematic analysis to identify the themes was done. Adolescents were aged 16-19 years, two had become pregnant before 15 years. Most had not completed secondary education; none had tertiary education and three of the 14 IDI adolescent participants wanted to get pregnant. Analysis shows varied experiences; most adolescents were abused verbally and physically by the health providers due to their young age of pregnancy, lack of essential items during this period (maternity dresses, children clothes, delivery kit) and fear of labour pains. Another cause for abuse was these adolescents coming for antenatal care with no partners yet the implementation of a policy on increasing male involvement in reproductive health in Uganda requires them to attend antenatal care with their partners and most of these unmarried adolescents have no partners to accompany them. Despite the above challenges, the study also identified the care some of these unmarried adolescents received during the maternity visits for example they were not abused, were provided with appropriate information and supported with child care. The study identified abuse and support the unmarried adolescents received during the maternity period. Efforts to provide adolescents with adequate information including what to expect during labour by providers and provision of basic needs are essential. Health providers should have trainings on client care especially how to embrace unmarried adolescents when they come to access maternity services. More so, the policy on improving male involvement in RH issues need to be considerate of unmarried adolescents who in most cases do not have the partners to go with to access maternity care.

Keywords: abuse, maternity care, Uganda, unmarried, adolescents

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Authors: Lisa Wilderink, Ingrid Bakker, Albertine J. Schuit, Jacob C. Seidell, Carry M. Renders

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To ensure that health behavior interventions for children living in low socioeconomic position (SEP) neighborhoods are in line with children’s wishes and needs, participation of the children in the development, implementation, and evaluation is crucial. In this paper, we show how children living in three low-SEP neighborhoods in the Netherlands can be involved in Participatory Action Research (PAR) and what influences this participation process. The Photovoice method was used and provided comprehensive information from the children’s perspectives. With the help of the community workers, the children identified feasible actions. This paper shows that it is possible to involve children from low SEP neighborhoods in a meaningful way. We found that it is important to constantly discuss the process with participants, start with a concrete question or problem and adapt the project to the local context and skills of participants

Keywords: children, healthy behavior, participatory action research, socioeconomic health inequalities

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Authors: Pikria Vardosanidze

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The term Apokatástasis (Greek: Apokatástasis) is Greek and means "re-establishment", the universal resurrection. The term dates back to ancient times, in Stoic thought denoting the end of a constantly evolving cycle of the universe and the beginning of a new beginning, established in Christendom by the Eastern Fathers and Origen as the return of the entire created world to a state of goodness. "Universal resurrection" means the resurrection of mankind after the second coming of Jesus Christ. The first thing the Savior will do immediately upon His glorious coming will be that "the dead will be raised up first by Christ." God's animal action will apply to all the dead, but not with the same result. The action of God also applies to the living, which is accomplished by changing their bodies. The degree of glorification of the resurrected body will be commensurate with the spiritual life. An unclean body will not be glorified, and the soul will not be happy. He, as a resurrected body, will be unbelieving, strong, and spiritual, but because of the action of the passions, all this will only bring suffering to the body. The court judges both the soul and the flesh. At the same time, St. The letter nowhere says that at the last 4trial, someone will be able to change their own position. In connection with this dogmatic teaching, one of the greatest fathers of the Church, Sts. Gregory Nossell had a different view. He points out that the miracle of the resurrection is so glorious and sublime that it exceeds our faith. There are two important circumstances: one is the reality of the resurrection itself, and the other is the face of its fulfillment. The first is founded by Gregory Nossell on the Uado authority, Sts. In the letter: Jesus Christ preached about the resurrection of Christ and also foretold many other events, all of which were later fulfilled. Gregory Nossell clarifies the issues of the substantiality of good and evil and the relationship between them and notes that only good has an inherent dependence on nothing because it originated from nothing and exists eternally in God. As for evil, it has no self-sustaining substance and, therefore, no existence. It appears only through the free will of man from time to time. As St., The Father says that God is the supreme goodness that gives beings the power to exist in existence , all others who are without Him are non-existent. St. The above-mentioned opinion of the father about the universal apocatastasis comes from the thought of Origen. This teaching was introduced by the resolution of the Fifth World Ecclesiastical Assembly. Finally, it was unanimously stated by ecclesiastical figures that the doctrine of universal salvation is not valid. For if the resurrection takes place in this way, that is, all beings, including the evil spirit, are resurrected, then the worldly controversy between good and evil, the future common denominator, the eternal torment - all that Christian dogma acknowledges.

Keywords: apolatastasisi ortodox, orthodox doctrine, gregogory of nusse, eschatology

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Authors: Sadia Munir, Diana White, Aya Albahri, Pratiwi Hastania, Eltahir Mohamed, Mahmood Khan, Fathima Mohamed, Ayat Kadhi, Haila Saleem

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Preeclampsia is a major complication of pregnancy. Prediction and management of preeclampsia is a challenge for obstetricians. To our knowledge, no major progress has been achieved in the prevention and early detection of preeclampsia. There is very little known about the clear treatment path of this disorder. Preeclampsia puts both mother and baby at risk of several short term- and long term-health problems later in life. There is huge health service cost burden in the health care system associated with preeclampsia and its complications. Preeclampsia is divided into two different types. Early onset preeclampsia develops before 34 weeks of gestation, and late onset develops at or after 34 weeks of gestation. Different genetic and environmental factors, prognosis, heritability, biochemical and clinical features are associated with early and late onset preeclampsia. Prevalence of preeclampsia greatly varies all over the world and is dependent on ethnicity of the population and geographic region. To authors best knowledge, no published data on preeclampsia exist in Qatar. In this study, we are reporting the incidence of preeclampsia in Qatar. The purpose of this study is to compare the incidence and risk factors of both early onset and late onset preeclampsia in Qatar. This retrospective longitudinal cohort study was conducted using data from the hospital record of Women’s Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), from May 2014-May 2016. Data collection tool, which was approved by HMC, was a researcher made extraction sheet that included information such as blood pressure during admission, socio demographic characteristics, delivery mode, and new born details. A total of 1929 patients’ files were identified by the hospital information management when they apply codes of preeclampsia. Out of 1929 files, 878 had significant gestational hypertension without proteinuria, 365 had preeclampsia, 364 had severe preeclampsia, and 188 had preexisting hypertension with superimposed proteinuria. In this study, 78% of the data was obtained by hospital electronic system (Cerner) and the remaining 22% was from patient’s paper records. We have gone through detail data extraction from 560 files. Initial data analysis has revealed that 15.02% of pregnancies were complicated with preeclampsia from May 2014-May 2016. We have analyzed difference in the two different disease entities in the ethnicity, maternal age, severity of hypertension, mode of delivery and infant birth weight. We have identified promising differences in the risk factors of early onset and late onset preeclampsia. The data from clinical findings of preeclampsia will contribute to increased knowledge about two different disease entities, their etiology, and similarities/differences. The findings of this study can also be used in predicting health challenges, improving health care system, setting up guidelines, and providing the best care for women suffering from preeclampsia.

Keywords: preeclampsia, incidence, risk factors, maternal

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Authors: Moomen Chaari, Wolfgang Ecker, Thomas Kruse, Bogdan-Andrei Tabacaru

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In our daily life, we frequently interact with complex systems which facilitate our mobility, enhance our access to information, and sometimes help us recover from illnesses or diseases. The reliance on these systems is motivated by the established evaluation and assessment procedures which are performed during the different phases of the design and manufacturing flow. Such procedures are aimed to qualify the system’s delivered services with respect to their availability, reliability, safety, and other properties generally referred to as dependability attributes. In this paper, we propose a metamodel based generic characterization of dependability concepts and describe an automation methodology to customize this characterization to different standards and contexts. When integrated in concrete design and verification environments, the proposed methodology promotes the reuse of already available dependability assessment tools and reduces the costs and the efforts required to create consistent and efficient artefacts for fault injection or error simulation.

Keywords: dependability analysis, model-driven development, metamodeling, code generation

Procedia PDF Downloads 478

Authors: Aniket Tiwari, Ameya London

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Web-based student attendance management system is required to assist the faculty and the lecturer for the time-consuming process. For this purpose, GSM/GPRS (Global System for Mobile Communication/General Packet Radio Service) based student’s attendance management system using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is a much convenient method to take the attendance. Student is provided with the RFID tags. When student comes near to the reader, it will sense the respective student and update attendance. The whole process is controlled using the microcontroller. The main advantage of this system is that it reduced the complexity comparison to student attendance system using RF technology. This system requires only one microcontroller for the operation, it is real time process. This paper reviews some of these monitoring systems and proposes a GPRS based student attendance system. The system can be easily accessed by the lecturers via the web and most importantly, the reports can be generated in real-time processing, thus, provides valuable information about the students’ commitments in attending the classes.

Keywords: RFID reader, RFID tags, student, attendance

Procedia PDF Downloads 487