Search results for: decision making effectiveness
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 10500

Search results for: decision making effectiveness

9270 Analyzing the Performance of the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 as Framework for Managing and Recovering from Large-Scale Disasters: A Typhoon Haiyan Recovery Case Study

Authors: Fouad M. Bendimerad, Jerome B. Zayas, Michael Adrian T. Padilla

Abstract:

With the increasing scale of severity and frequency of disasters worldwide, the performance of governance systems for disaster risk reduction and management in many countries are being put to the test. In the Philippines, the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Act of 2010 (Republic Act 10121 or RA 10121) as the framework for disaster risk reduction and management was tested when Super Typhoon Haiyan hit the eastern provinces of the Philippines in November 2013. Typhoon Haiyan is considered to be the strongest recorded typhoon in history to make landfall with winds exceeding 252 km/hr. In assessing the performance of RA 10121 the authors conducted document reviews of related policies, plans, programs, and key interviews and focus groups with representatives of 21 national government departments, two (2) local government units, six (6) private sector and civil society organizations, and five (5) development agencies. Our analysis will argue that enhancements are needed in RA 10121 in order to meet the challenges of large-scale disasters. The current structure where government agencies and departments organize along DRRM thematic areas such response and relief, preparedness, prevention and mitigation, and recovery and response proved to be inefficient in coordinating response and recovery and in mobilizing resources on the ground. However, experience from various disasters has shown the Philippine government’s tendency to organize major recovery programs along development sectors such as infrastructure, livelihood, shelter, and social services, which is consistent with the concept of DRM mainstreaming. We will argue that this sectoral approach is more effective than the thematic approach to DRRM. The council-type arrangement for coordination has also been rendered inoperable by Typhoon Haiyan because the agency responsible for coordination does not have decision-making authority to mobilize action and resources of other agencies which are members of the council. Resources have been devolved to agencies responsible for each thematic area and there is no clear command and direction structure for decision-making. However, experience also shows that the Philippine government has appointed ad-hoc bodies with authority over other agencies to coordinate and mobilize action and resources in recovering from large-scale disasters. We will argue that this approach be institutionalized within the government structure to enable a more efficient and effective disaster risk reduction and management system.

Keywords: risk reduction and management, recovery, governance, typhoon haiyan response and recovery

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9269 Comparative Study od Three Artificial Intelligence Techniques for Rain Domain in Precipitation Forecast

Authors: Nabilah Filzah Mohd Radzuan, Andi Putra, Zalinda Othman, Azuraliza Abu Bakar, Abdul Razak Hamdan

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Precipitation forecast is important to avoid natural disaster incident which can cause losses in the involved area. This paper reviews three techniques logistic regression, decision tree, and random forest which are used in making precipitation forecast. These combination techniques through the vector auto-regression (VAR) model help in finding the advantages and strengths of each technique in the forecast process. The data-set contains variables of the rain’s domain. Adaptation of artificial intelligence techniques involved in rain domain enables the forecast process to be easier and systematic for precipitation forecast.

Keywords: logistic regression, decisions tree, random forest, VAR model

Procedia PDF Downloads 441
9268 Financial Literacy and Stock Market Participation: Does Gender Matter?

Authors: Irfan Ullah Munir, Shen Yue, Muhammad Shahzad Ijaz, Saad Hussain, Syeda Yumna Zaidi

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Financial literacy is fundamental to every decision-making process and has received attention from researchers, regulatory bodies and policy makers in the recent past. This study is an attempt to evaluate financial literacy in an emerging economy, particularly Pakistan, and its influence on people's stock market participation. Data of this study was collected through a structured questionnaire from a sample of 300 respondents. EFA is used to check the convergent and discriminant validity. Data is analyzed using Hayes (2013) approach. A set of demographic control variables that have passed the mean difference test is used. We demonstrate that participants with financial literacy tend to invest more in the stock market. We also find that association among financial literacy and participation in stock market gets moderated by gender.

Keywords: Financial literacy, Stock market participation, Gender, PSX

Procedia PDF Downloads 191
9267 Using Visualization Techniques to Support Common Clinical Tasks in Clinical Documentation

Authors: Jonah Kenei, Elisha Opiyo

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Electronic health records, as a repository of patient information, is nowadays the most commonly used technology to record, store and review patient clinical records and perform other clinical tasks. However, the accurate identification and retrieval of relevant information from clinical records is a difficult task due to the unstructured nature of clinical documents, characterized in particular by a lack of clear structure. Therefore, medical practice is facing a challenge thanks to the rapid growth of health information in electronic health records (EHRs), mostly in narrative text form. As a result, it's becoming important to effectively manage the growing amount of data for a single patient. As a result, there is currently a requirement to visualize electronic health records (EHRs) in a way that aids physicians in clinical tasks and medical decision-making. Leveraging text visualization techniques to unstructured clinical narrative texts is a new area of research that aims to provide better information extraction and retrieval to support clinical decision support in scenarios where data generated continues to grow. Clinical datasets in electronic health records (EHR) offer a lot of potential for training accurate statistical models to classify facets of information which can then be used to improve patient care and outcomes. However, in many clinical note datasets, the unstructured nature of clinical texts is a common problem. This paper examines the very issue of getting raw clinical texts and mapping them into meaningful structures that can support healthcare professionals utilizing narrative texts. Our work is the result of a collaborative design process that was aided by empirical data collected through formal usability testing.

Keywords: classification, electronic health records, narrative texts, visualization

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9266 Risk Issues for Controlling Floods through Unsafe, Dual Purpose, Gated Dams

Authors: Gregory Michael McMahon

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Risk management for the purposes of minimizing the damages from the operations of dams has met with opposition emerging from organisations and authorities, and their practitioners. It appears that the cause may be a misunderstanding of risk management arising from exchanges that mix deterministic thinking with risk-centric thinking and that do not separate uncertainty from reliability and accuracy from probability. This paper sets out those misunderstandings that arose from dam operations at Wivenhoe in 2011, using a comparison of outcomes that have been based on the methodology and its rules and those that have been operated by applying misunderstandings of the rules. The paper addresses the performance of one risk-centric Flood Manual for Wivenhoe Dam in achieving a risk management outcome. A mixture of engineering, administrative, and legal factors appear to have combined to reduce the outcomes from the risk approach. These are described. The findings are that a risk-centric Manual may need to assist administrations in the conduct of scenario training regimes, in responding to healthy audit reporting, and in the development of decision-support systems. The principal assistance needed from the Manual, however, is to assist engineering and the law to a good understanding of how risks are managed – do not assume that risk management is understood. The wider findings are that the critical profession for decision-making downstream of the meteorologist is not dam engineering or hydrology, or hydraulics; it is risk management. Risk management will provide the minimum flood damage outcome where actual rainfalls match or exceed forecasts of rainfalls, that therefore risk management will provide the best approach for the likely history of flooding in the life of a dam, and provisions made for worst cases may be state of the art in risk management. The principal conclusion is the need for training in both risk management as a discipline and also in the application of risk management rules to particular dam operational scenarios.

Keywords: risk management, flood control, dam operations, deterministic thinking

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9265 Priority Analysis for Korean Disaster Mental Health Service Model Using Analytic Hierarchy Process

Authors: Myung-Soo Lee, Sun-Jin Jo, Kyoung-Sae Na, Joo-Eon Park

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Early intervention after a disaster is important for recovery of disaster victims and each country has its own professional mental health service system such as Disaster Psychiatric Assistant Team in Japan and Crisis Counseling Program in the USA. The purpose of this study was to determine key prior components of the Korean Disaster Psychiatric Assistant Team (K-DPAT) for building up Korean disaster mental health service system. We conducted an Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP) with disaster mental health experts using pairwise comparison questionnaire which compares the relative importance of the key components of Korean disaster mental health service system. Forty-one experts answered the first online survey, and among them, 36 responded to the second. Ten experts were participated in panel meeting and discussed the results of the survey and AHP process. Participants decided the relative importance of the Korean disaster mental health service system regarding initial professional intervention as follows. K-DPAT could be organized at a national level (43.0%) or regional level (40.0%). K-DPAT members should be managed (59.0%) and educated (52.1%) by national level than regional or local level. K-DPAT should be organized independent of the preexisting mental health system (70.1%). Funding for K-DPAT should be from the Ministry of Public Safety and the system could be managed by Ministry of Health (65.8%). Experts agreed K-DPAT leader is suitable for key decision maker for most types of disaster except infectious disease. We expect new model for disaster mental health services can improve insufficiency of the system such as fragmentation and decrease the unmet needs of early professional intervention for the disaster victims.

Keywords: analytic hierarchy process, decision making, disaster, DPAT, mental health services

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9264 Social Ties and the Prevalence of Single Chronic Morbidity and Multimorbidity among the Elderly Population in Selected States of India

Authors: Sree Sanyal

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Research in ageing often highlights the age-related health dimension more than the psycho-social characteristics of the elderly, which also influences and challenges the health outcomes. Multimorbidity is defined as the person having more than one chronic non-communicable diseases and their prevalence increases with ageing. The study aims to evaluate the influence of social ties on self-reported prevalence of multimorbidity (selected chronic non-communicable diseases) among the selected states of elderly population in India. The data is accessed from Building Knowledge Base on Population Ageing in India (BKPAI), collected in 2011 covering the self-reported chronic non-communicable diseases like arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, lung disease with asthma, hypertension, cataract, depression, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer. The data of the above diseases were taken together and categorized as: ‘no disease’, ‘one disease’ and ‘multimorbidity’. The predicted variables were demographic, socio-economic, residential types, and the variable of social ties includes social support, social engagement, perceived support, connectedness, and importance of the elderly. Predicted probability for multiple logistic regression was used to determine the background characteristics of the old in association with chronic morbidities showing multimorbidity. The finding suggests that 24.35% of the elderly are suffering from multimorbidity. Research shows that with reference to ‘no disease’, according to the socio-economic characteristics of the old, the female oldest old (80+) from others in caste and religion, widowed, never had any formal education, ever worked in their life, coming from the second wealth quintile standard, from rural Maharashtra are more prone with ‘one disease’. From the social ties background, the elderly who perceives they are important to the family, after getting older their decision-making status has been changed, prefer to stay with son and spouse only, satisfied with the communication from their children are more likely to have less single morbidity and the results are significant. Again, with respect to ‘no disease’, the female oldest old (80+), who are others in caste, Christian in religion, widowed, having less than 5 years of education completed, ever worked, from highest wealth quintile, residing in urban Kerala are more associated with multimorbidity. The elderly population who are more socially connected through family visits, public gatherings, gets support in decision making, who prefers to spend their later years with son and spouse only but stays alone shows lesser prevalence of multimorbidity. In conclusion, received and perceived social integration and support from associated neighborhood in the older days, knowing about their own needs in life facilitates better health and wellbeing of the elderly population in selected states of India.

Keywords: morbidity, multi-morbidity, prevalence, social ties

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9263 Identify the Renewable Energy Potential through Sustainability Indicators and Multicriteria Analysis

Authors: Camila Lima, Murilo Andrade Valle, Patrícia Teixeira Leite Asano

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The growth in demand for electricity, caused by human development, depletion and environmental impacts caused by traditional sources of electricity generation have made new energy sources are increasingly encouraged and necessary for companies in the electricity sector. Based on this scenario, this paper assesses the negative environmental impacts associated with thermoelectric power plants in Brazil, pointing out the importance of using renewable energy sources, reducing environmental aggression. This article points out the existence of an energy alternative, wind energy, of the municipalities of São Paulo, represented by georeferenced maps with the help of GIS, using as a premise the indicators of sustainability and multicriteria analysis in the decision-making process.

Keywords: GIS (geographic information systems), multicriteria analysis, sustainability, wind energy

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9262 Developing a Multiagent-Based Decision Support System for Realtime Multi-Risk Disaster Management

Authors: D. Moser, D. Pinto, A. Cipriano

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A Disaster Management System (DMS) for countries with different disasters is very important. In the world different disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruption, fire or other natural or man-made disasters occurs and have an effect on the population. It is also possible that two or more disasters arisen at the same time, this means to handle multi-risk situations. To handle such a situation a Decision Support System (DSS) based on multiagents is a suitable architecture. The most known DMSs deal with one (in the case of an earthquake-tsunami combination with two) disaster and often with one particular disaster. Nevertheless, a DSS helps for a better realtime response. Analyze the existing systems in the literature and expand them for multi-risk disasters to construct a well-organized system is the proposal of our work. The here shown work is an approach of a multi-risk system, which needs an architecture, and well-defined aims. In this moment our study is a kind of case study to analyze the way we have to follow to create our proposed system in the future.

Keywords: decision support system, disaster management system, multi-risk, multiagent system

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9261 Study on the Evaluation and Utilization of Space Renewal Potential under Bridge in Chongqing

Authors: Qin Xvelian

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organic renewal" based on the development of existing resources in high-density urban areas has become the mainstream of urban development in the new era. As an important stock resource of public space in high-density urban areas, promoting its value remodeling is an effective way to alleviate the shortage of public space resources. However, due to the lack of evaluation links in the process of underpass space renewal, a large number of underpass space resources have been left idle, facing the problems of low space conversion efficiency, lack of accuracy in development decision-making, and low adaptability of functional positioning to citizens' needs. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to construct the evaluation system of under-bridge space renewal potential and explore the renewal mode. In this paper, some of the under-bridge spaces in the main urban area of Chongqing are selected as the research object. Through the questionnaire interviews with the users of the built excellent space under the bridge, three types of six levels and twenty-two potential evaluation indexes of "objective demand factor, construction feasibility factor and construction suitability factor" are selected, including six levels of land resources, infrastructure, accessibility, safety, space quality and ecological environment. The analytical hierarchy process and expert scoring method are used to determine the index weight, construct the potential evaluation system of the space under the bridge in high-density urban areas of Chongqing, and explore the direction of renewal and utilization of its suitability. To provide feasible theoretical basis and scientific decision support for the use of under bridge space in the future.

Keywords: high density urban area, potential evaluation, space under bridge, updated using

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9260 Variations in Breast Aesthetic Reconstruction Rates between Asian and Caucasian Patients Post Mastectomy in a UK Tertiary Breast Referral Centre: A Five-Year Institutional Review

Authors: Wisam Ismail, Chole Wright, Elizabeth Baker, Cathy Tait, Mohamed Salhab, Richard Linforth

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Background: Post-mastectomy breast reconstruction is an important treatment option for women with breast cancer with psychosocial, emotional and quality of life benefits. Despite this, Asian patients are one-fifth as likely as Caucasian patients to undergo reconstruction after mastectomy. Aim: This study aimed to assess the difference in breast reconstruction rates between Asian and Caucasian patients treated at Bradford Teaching Hospitals between May 2011 – December 2015.The long-term goal is to equip healthcare professionals to improve breast cancer treatment outcome by increasing breast reconstruction rates in this sub-population. Methods: All patients undergoing mastectomy were identified using a prospectively collected departmental database. Further data was obtained via retrospective electronic case note review. Bradford city population is about 530.000 by the end of 2015, with 67.44% of the city's population was White ethnic groups and 26.83% Asian Ethnic Groups (UK population consensus). The majority of Asian population speaks Urdu, hence an Urdu speaking breast care nurse was appointed to facilitate communications and deliver a better understanding of the reconstruction options and pathways. Statistical analysis was undertaken using the SAS program. Patients were stratified by age, self-reported ethnicity, axillary surgery and reconstruction. Relative odds were calculated using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses with adjustment for known confounders. An Urdu speaking breast care nurse was employed throughout this period to facilitate communication and patient decision making. Results: 506 patients underwent Mastectomy over 5 years. 72 (14%) Asian v. 434 (85%) Caucasian. Overall median age is 64 years (SD1.1). Asian median age is 62 (SD0.9), versus Caucasian 65 (SD1.2). Total axillary clearance rate was 30% (42% Asian v.30% Caucasian). Overall reconstruction rate was 126 patients (28.9%).Only 6 of 72 Asian patients (<1%) underwent breast reconstruction versus 121of 434 Caucasian (28%) (p < 0.04), Odds ratio 0.68, (95% confidence interval 0.57-0.79). Conclusions: There is a significant difference in post-mastectomy reconstruction rates between Asian and Caucasian patients. This difference is likely to be multi-factorial. Higher rates of axillary clearance in Asian patients might suggest later disease presentation and/or higher rates of subsequent adjuvant therapy, both of which, can impact on the suitability of breast reconstruction. Strategies aimed at reducing racial disparities in breast reconstruction should include symptom awareness to enable earlier presentation and facilitated communication to ensure informed decision-making.

Keywords: aesthetic, Asian, breast, reconstruction

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9259 Full-Face Hyaluronic Acid Implants Assisted by Artificial Intelligence-Generated Post-treatment 3D Models

Authors: Ciro Cursio, Pio Luigi Cursio, Giulia Cursio, Isabella Chiardi, Luigi Cursio

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Introduction: Full-face aesthetic treatments often present a difficult task: since different patients possess different anatomical and tissue characteristics, there is no guarantee that the same treatment will have the same effect on multiple patients; additionally, full-face rejuvenation and beautification treatments require not only a high degree of technical skill but also the ability to choose the right product for each area and a keen artistic eye. Method: We present an artificial intelligence-based algorithm that can generate realistic post-treatment 3D models based on the patient’s requests together with the doctor’s input. These 3-dimensional predictions can be used by the practitioner for two purposes: firstly, they help ensure that the patient and the doctor are completely aligned on the expectations of the treatment; secondly, the doctor can use them as a visual guide, obtaining a natural result that would normally stem from the practitioner's artistic skills. To this end, the algorithm is able to predict injection zones, the type and quantity of hyaluronic acid, the injection depth, and the technique to use. Results: Our innovation consists in providing an objective visual representation of the patient that is helpful in the patient-doctor dialogue. The patient, based on this information, can express her desire to undergo a specific treatment or make changes to the therapeutic plan. In short, the patient becomes an active agent in the choices made before the treatment. Conclusion: We believe that this algorithm will reveal itself as a useful tool in the pre-treatment decision-making process to prevent both the patient and the doctor from making a leap into the dark.

Keywords: hyaluronic acid, fillers, full face, artificial intelligence, 3D

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9258 The Feasibility of Using Green Architecture in the Desert Areas and Its Effectiveness

Authors: Abdulah Hamads Alatiah

Abstract:

The green architecture represents the essence of the sustainability process and the fundamental rule in the desert areas' reconstruction seeking to maintain the environmental balance. This study is based on the analytical descriptive approach, to extract the objectives of green architecture in the desert areas, and reveal the most important principles that contribute to highlight its economic, social, and environmental importance, in addition to standing on the most important technical standards that can be relied upon to deal with its environmental problems. The green architecture aims: making use of the alternative energy, reducing the conventional energy consumption, addressing its negative effects, adapting to the climate, innovation in design, providing the individuals' welfare and rationalizing the use of the available resources to maintain its environmental sustainability.

Keywords: green architecture, the warm-dry climate, natural lighting, environmental quality, renewable energy, weather changes

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9257 Analysis of Business Intelligence Tools in Healthcare

Authors: Avishkar Gawade, Omkar Bansode, Ketan Bhambure, Bhargav Deore

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In recent year wide range of business intelligence technology have been applied to different area in order to support decision making process BI enables extraction of knowledge from data store. BI tools usually used in public health field for financial and administrative purposes.BI uses a dashboard in presentation stage to deliver information to information to end users.In this paper,we intend to analyze some open source BI tools on the market and their applicability in the clinical sphere taking into consideration the general characteristics of the clinical environment.A pervasive BI platform was developed using a real case in order to prove the tool viability.Analysis of various BI Tools in done with the help of several parameters such as data security,data integration,data quality reporting and anlaytics,performance,scalability and cost effectivesness.

Keywords: CDSS, EHR, business intelliegence, tools

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9256 Modeling the Impact of Aquaculture in Wetland Ecosystems Using an Integrated Ecosystem Approach: Case Study of Setiu Wetlands, Malaysia

Authors: Roseliza Mat Alipiah, David Raffaelli, J. C. R. Smart

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This research is a new approach as it integrates information from both environmental and social sciences to inform effective management of the wetlands. A three-stage research framework was developed for modelling the drivers and pressures imposed on the wetlands and their impacts to the ecosystem and the local communities. Firstly, a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) was used to predict the probability of anthropogenic activities affecting the delivery of different key wetland ecosystem services under different management scenarios. Secondly, Choice Experiments (CEs) were used to quantify the relative preferences which key wetland stakeholder group (aquaculturists) held for delivery of different levels of these key ecosystem services. Thirdly, a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) was applied to produce an ordinal ranking of the alternative management scenarios accounting for their impacts upon ecosystem service delivery as perceived through the preferences of the aquaculturists. This integrated ecosystem management approach was applied to a wetland ecosystem in Setiu, Terengganu, Malaysia which currently supports a significant level of aquaculture activities. This research has produced clear guidelines to inform policy makers considering alternative wetland management scenarios: Intensive Aquaculture, Conservation or Ecotourism, in addition to the Status Quo. The findings of this research are as follows: The BBN revealed that current aquaculture activity is likely to have significant impacts on water column nutrient enrichment, but trivial impacts on caged fish biomass, especially under the Intensive Aquaculture scenario. Secondly, the best fitting CE models identified several stakeholder sub-groups for aquaculturists, each with distinct sets of preferences for the delivery of key ecosystem services. Thirdly, the MCDA identified Conservation as the most desirable scenario overall based on ordinal ranking in the eyes of most of the stakeholder sub-groups. Ecotourism and Status Quo scenarios were the next most preferred and Intensive Aquaculture was the least desirable scenario. The methodologies developed through this research provide an opportunity for improving planning and decision making processes that aim to deliver sustainable management of wetland ecosystems in Malaysia.

Keywords: Bayesian belief network (BBN), choice experiments (CE), multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA), aquaculture

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9255 Material and Parameter Analysis of the PolyJet Process for Mold Making Using Design of Experiments

Authors: A. Kampker, K. Kreisköther, C. Reinders

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Since additive manufacturing technologies constantly advance, the use of this technology in mold making seems reasonable. Many manufacturers of additive manufacturing machines, however, do not offer any suggestions on how to parameterize the machine to achieve optimal results for mold making. The purpose of this research is to determine the interdependencies of different materials and parameters within the PolyJet process by using design of experiments (DoE), to additively manufacture molds, e.g. for thermoforming and injection molding applications. Therefore, the general requirements of thermoforming molds, such as heat resistance, surface quality and hardness, have been identified. Then, different materials and parameters of the PolyJet process, such as the orientation of the printed part, the layer thickness, the printing mode (matte or glossy), the distance between printed parts and the scaling of parts, have been examined. The multifactorial analysis covers the following properties of the printed samples: Tensile strength, tensile modulus, bending strength, elongation at break, surface quality, heat deflection temperature and surface hardness. The key objective of this research is that by joining the results from the DoE with the requirements of the mold making, optimal and tailored molds can be additively manufactured with the PolyJet process. These additively manufactured molds can then be used in prototyping processes, in process testing and in small to medium batch production.

Keywords: additive manufacturing, design of experiments, mold making, PolyJet, 3D-Printing

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9254 Design of Evaluation for Ehealth Intervention: A Participatory Study in Italy, Israel, Spain and Sweden

Authors: Monika Jurkeviciute, Amia Enam, Johanna Torres Bonilla, Henrik Eriksson

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Introduction: Many evaluations of eHealth interventions conclude that the evidence for improved clinical outcomes is limited, especially when the intervention is short, such as one year. Often, evaluation design does not address the feasibility of achieving clinical outcomes. Evaluations are designed to reflect upon clinical goals of intervention without utilizing the opportunity to illuminate effects on organizations and cost. A comprehensive design of evaluation can better support decision-making regarding the effectiveness and potential transferability of eHealth. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to present a feasible and comprehensive design of evaluation for eHealth intervention, including the design process in different contexts. Methodology: The situation of limited feasibility of clinical outcomes was foreseen in the European Union funded project called “DECI” (“Digital Environment for Cognitive Inclusion”) that is run under the “Horizon 2020” program with an aim to define and test a digital environment platform within corresponding care models that help elderly people live independently. A complex intervention of eHealth implementation into elaborate care models in four different countries was planned for one year. To design the evaluation, a participative approach was undertaken using Pettigrew’s lens of change and transformations, including context, process, and content. Through a series of workshops, observations, interviews, and document analysis, as well as a review of scientific literature, a comprehensive design of evaluation was created. Findings: The findings indicate that in order to get evidence on clinical outcomes, eHealth interventions should last longer than one year. The content of the comprehensive evaluation design includes a collection of qualitative and quantitative methods for data gathering which illuminates non-medical aspects. Furthermore, it contains communication arrangements to discuss the results and continuously improve the evaluation design, as well as procedures for monitoring and improving the data collection during the intervention. The process of the comprehensive evaluation design consists of four stages: (1) analysis of a current state in different contexts, including measurement systems, expectations and profiles of stakeholders, organizational ambitions to change due to eHealth integration, and the organizational capacity to collect data for evaluation; (2) workshop with project partners to discuss the as-is situation in relation to the project goals; (3) development of general and customized sets of relevant performance measures, questionnaires and interview questions; (4) setting up procedures and monitoring systems for the interventions. Lastly, strategies are presented on how challenges can be handled during the design process of evaluation in four different countries. The evaluation design needs to consider contextual factors such as project limitations, and differences between pilot sites in terms of eHealth solutions, patient groups, care models, national and organizational cultures and settings. This implies a need for the flexible approach to evaluation design to enable judgment over the effectiveness and potential for adoption and transferability of eHealth. In summary, this paper provides learning opportunities for future evaluation designs of eHealth interventions in different national and organizational settings.

Keywords: ehealth, elderly, evaluation, intervention, multi-cultural

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9253 A Study of Permission-Based Malware Detection Using Machine Learning

Authors: Ratun Rahman, Rafid Islam, Akin Ahmed, Kamrul Hasan, Hasan Mahmud

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Malware is becoming more prevalent, and several threat categories have risen dramatically in recent years. This paper provides a bird's-eye view of the world of malware analysis. The efficiency of five different machine learning methods (Naive Bayes, K-Nearest Neighbor, Decision Tree, Random Forest, and TensorFlow Decision Forest) combined with features picked from the retrieval of Android permissions to categorize applications as harmful or benign is investigated in this study. The test set consists of 1,168 samples (among these android applications, 602 are malware and 566 are benign applications), each consisting of 948 features (permissions). Using the permission-based dataset, the machine learning algorithms then produce accuracy rates above 80%, except the Naive Bayes Algorithm with 65% accuracy. Of the considered algorithms TensorFlow Decision Forest performed the best with an accuracy of 90%.

Keywords: android malware detection, machine learning, malware, malware analysis

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9252 Terrorism Is a Crime under International Law

Authors: Miguel Manero De Lemos

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The ‘innovative and creative’ seminal decision of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) was not welcomed by academic opinion. The court recognized that terrorism is a crime under international law in times of peace. Scholars widely – and sometimes aggressively – criticize this conclusion. This article asserts that, while some aspects of the decision of the STL might be defective, the basic premise, that it is indeed such a crime, is sound. This article delves into the method that the court used to attain such an outcome and explains why the conclusion of the court is correct, albeit the use of a different method is to be preferred. It also argues that subsequent developments leave little room to keep arguing that there is no international crime of terrorism.

Keywords: terrorism, STL, crime, international criminal law

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9251 Improving Contributions to the Strengthening of the Legislation Regarding Road Infrastructure Safety Management in Romania, Case Study: Comparison Between the Initial Regulations and the Clarity of the Current Regulations - Trends Regarding the Efficiency

Authors: Corneliu-Ioan Dimitriu, Gheorghe Frățilă

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Romania and Bulgaria have high rates of road deaths per million inhabitants. Directive (EU) 2019/1936, known as the RISM Directive, has been transposed into national law by each Member State. The research focuses on the amendments made to Romanian legislation through Government Ordinance no. 3/2022, which aims to improve road safety management on infrastructure. The aim of the research is two-fold: to sensitize the Romanian Government and decision-making entities to develop an integrated and competitive management system and to establish a safe and proactive mobility system that ensures efficient and safe roads. The research includes a critical analysis of European and Romanian legislation, as well as subsequent normative acts related to road infrastructure safety management. Public data from European Union and national authorities, as well as data from the Romanian Road Authority-ARR and Traffic Police database, are utilized. The research methodology involves comparative analysis, criterion analysis, SWOT analysis, and the use of GANTT and WBS diagrams. The Excel tool is employed to process the road accident databases of Romania and Bulgaria. Collaboration with Bulgarian specialists is established to identify common road infrastructure safety issues. The research concludes that the legislative changes have resulted in a relaxation of road safety management in Romania, leading to decreased control over certain management procedures. The amendments to primary and secondary legislation do not meet the current safety requirements for road infrastructure. The research highlights the need for legislative changes and strengthened administrative capacity to enhance road safety. Regional cooperation and the exchange of best practices are emphasized for effective road infrastructure safety management. The research contributes to the theoretical understanding of road infrastructure safety management by analyzing legislative changes and their impact on safety measures. It highlights the importance of an integrated and proactive approach in reducing road accidents and achieving the "zero deaths" objective set by the European Union. Data collection involves accessing public data from relevant authorities and using information from the Romanian Road Authority-ARR and Traffic Police database. Analysis procedures include critical analysis of legislation, comparative analysis of transpositions, criterion analysis, and the use of various diagrams and tools such as SWOT, GANTT, WBS, and Excel. The research addresses the effectiveness of legislative changes in road infrastructure safety management in Romania and the impact on control over management procedures. It also explores the need for strengthened administrative capacity and regional cooperation in addressing road safety issues. The research concludes that the legislative changes made in Romania have not strengthened road safety management and emphasize the need for immediate action, legislative amendments, and enhanced administrative capacity. Collaboration with Bulgarian specialists and the exchange of best practices are recommended for effective road infrastructure safety management. The research contributes to the theoretical understanding of road safety management and provides valuable insights for policymakers and decision-makers in Romania.

Keywords: management, road infrastructure safety, legislation, amendments, collaboration

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9250 Rebuilding Christchurch's Infrastructure: An Analysis of Political Mismanagement

Authors: Hugh Byrd, Steve Matthewnan

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The devastation of the city centre of Christchurch, New Zealand, after the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes presented an opportunity to rebuild infrastructure in a coordinated and efficient manner to allow for a city that was energy efficient, low carbon, resilient and provided both energy security and justice. The research described in this paper records the processes taken to attempt to rebuild the energy infrastructure. The story is one of political decisions overriding appropriate technology and ultimately is a lesson in how not to handle the implementation of post-disaster energy infrastructure. Lack of clarity in decision making by central government and then not pursuing consultant’s recommendations led to a scheme that was effectively abandoned in 2016 and described as ‘a total failure’. The paper records the critical events that occurred and explains why the proposed energy infrastructure was both politically and technologically inappropriate.

Keywords: energy infrastructure, policy and governance, post-disaster rebuilding

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9249 Proactive Pure Handoff Model with SAW-TOPSIS Selection and Time Series Predict

Authors: Harold Vásquez, Cesar Hernández, Ingrid Páez

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This paper approach cognitive radio technic and applied pure proactive handoff Model to decrease interference between PU and SU and comparing it with reactive handoff model. Through the study and analysis of multivariate models SAW and TOPSIS join to 3 dynamic prediction techniques AR, MA ,and ARMA. To evaluate the best model is taken four metrics: number failed handoff, number handoff, number predictions, and number interference. The result presented the advantages using this type of pure proactive models to predict changes in the PU according to the selected channel and reduce interference. The model showed better performance was TOPSIS-MA, although TOPSIS-AR had a higher predictive ability this was not reflected in the interference reduction.

Keywords: cognitive radio, spectrum handoff, decision making, time series, wireless networks

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9248 Modeling Generalization in the Acquired Equivalence Paradigm with the Successor Representation

Authors: Troy M. Houser

Abstract:

The successor representation balances flexible and efficient reinforcement learning by learning to predict the future, given the present. As such, the successor representation models stimuli as what future states they lead to. Therefore, two stimuli that are perceptually dissimilar but lead to the same future state will come to be represented more similarly. This is very similar to an older behavioral paradigm -the acquired equivalence paradigm, which measures the generalization of learned associations. Here, we test via computational modeling the plausibility that the successor representation is the mechanism by which people generalize knowledge learned in the acquired equivalence paradigm. Computational evidence suggests that this is a plausible mechanism for acquired equivalence and thus can guide future empirical work on individual differences in associative-based generalization.

Keywords: acquired equivalence, successor representation, generalization, decision-making

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9247 Maori Primary Industries Responses to Climate Change and Freshwater Policy Reforms in Aotearoa New Zealand

Authors: Tanira Kingi, Oscar Montes Oca, Reina Tamepo

Abstract:

The introduction of the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act (2019) and the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management (2020) both contain underpinning statements that refer to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and cultural concepts of stewardship and environmental protection. Maori interests in New Zealand’s agricultural, forestry, fishing and horticultural sectors are significant. The organizations that manage these investments do so on behalf of extended family groups that hold inherited interests based on genealogical connections (whakapapa) to particular tribal units (iwi and hapu) and areas of land (whenua) and freshwater bodies (wai). This paper draws on the findings of current research programmes funded by the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre (NZAGRC) and the Our Land & Water National Science Challenge (OLW NSC) to understand the impact of cultural knowledge and imperatives on agricultural GHG and freshwater mitigation and land-use change decisions. In particular, the research outlines mitigation and land-use change scenario decision support frameworks that model changes in emissions profiles (reductions in biogenic methane, nitrous oxide and nutrient emissions to freshwater) of agricultural and forestry production systems along with impacts on key economic indicators and socio-cultural factors. The paper also assesses the effectiveness of newly introduced partnership arrangements between Maori groups/organizations and key government agencies on policy co-design and implementation, and in particular, decisions to adopt mitigation practices and to diversify land use.

Keywords: co-design and implementation of environmental policy, indigenous environmental knowledge, Māori land tenure and agribusiness, mitigation and land use change decision support frameworks

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9246 Retrospective/Prospective Analysis of Guideline Implementation and Transfusion Rates

Authors: B. Kenny

Abstract:

The complications associated with transfusions are well documented, with the serious hazards of transfusion (SHOT) reporting system continuing to report deaths and serious morbidity due to the transfusion of allogenic blood. Many different sources including the TRICC trial, NHMRC and Cochrane recommending similar transfusion triggers/guidelines. Recent studies found the rate of infection (deep infection, wound infection, chest infection, urinary tract infection, and others) were purely a dose response relationship, increasing the Relative Risk by 3.44. It was also noted that each transfused patient stayed in hospital for one additional day. We hypothesise that providing an approved/standardised, guideline with a graphical summary of decision pathways for anaemic patients will reduce unnecessary transfusions. We retrospectively assessed patients undergoing primary knee or hip arthroplasties over a 4 year period, 1459 patients. Of these, 339 (23.24%) patients received allogenic blood transfusions and 858 units of blood were transfused, 9.14% of patients transfused had haemoglobin levels above 100 g/L, 7.67% of patients were transfused without knowing the haemoglobin level, 24 hours prior to transfusion initiation and 4.5% had possible transfusion reactions. Overall, 17% of allogenic transfusions topatients admitted to the Orthopaedic department within a 4 year period were outside NHMRC and Cochrane guidelines/recommendations. If our transfusion frequency is compared with that of other authors/hospitals, transfusion rates are consistently being high. We subsequently implemented a simple guideline for transfusion initiation. This guideline was then assessed. We found the transfusion rate post transfusion implementation to be significantly lower, without increase in patient morbidity or mortalitiy, p <0.001). Transfusion rates and patient outcome can be optimized by a simple graphical aid for decision making.

Keywords: transfusion, morbidity, mortality, neck of femur, fracture, arthroplasty, rehabilitation

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9245 Design of a Pneumonia Ontology for Diagnosis Decision Support System

Authors: Sabrina Azzi, Michal Iglewski, Véronique Nabelsi

Abstract:

Diagnosis error problem is frequent and one of the most important safety problems today. One of the main objectives of our work is to propose an ontological representation that takes into account the diagnostic criteria in order to improve the diagnostic. We choose pneumonia disease since it is one of the frequent diseases affected by diagnosis errors and have harmful effects on patients. To achieve our aim, we use a semi-automated method to integrate diverse knowledge sources that include publically available pneumonia disease guidelines from international repositories, biomedical ontologies and electronic health records. We follow the principles of the Open Biomedical Ontologies (OBO) Foundry. The resulting ontology covers symptoms and signs, all the types of pneumonia, antecedents, pathogens, and diagnostic testing. The first evaluation results show that most of the terms are covered by the ontology. This work is still in progress and represents a first and major step toward a development of a diagnosis decision support system for pneumonia.

Keywords: Clinical decision support system, Diagnostic errors, Ontology, Pneumonia

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9244 Evidence of Behavioural Thermoregulation by Dugongs (Dugong dugon) at the High Latitude Limit to Their Range in Eastern Australia

Authors: Daniel R. Zeh, Michelle R. Heupel, Mark Hamann, Rhondda Jones, Colin J. Limpus, Helene Marsh

Abstract:

Marine mammals live in an environment with water temperatures nearly always lower than the mammalian core body temperature of 35 - 38°C. Marine mammals can lose heat at high rates and have evolved a range of adaptations to minimise heat loss. Our project tracked dugongs to examine if there was a discoverable relationship between the animals’ movements and the temperature of their environment that might suggest behavioural thermoregulation. Twenty-nine dugongs were fitted with acoustic and satellite/GPS transmitters in 2012, 2013 and 2014 in Moreton Bay Queensland at the high latitude limit of the species’ winter range in eastern Australia on 30 occasions (one animal was tagged twice). All 22 animals that stayed in the area and had functional transmitters made at least one (and up to 66) return trip(s) to the warmer oceanic waters outside the bay where seagrass is unavailable. Individual dugongs went in and out of the bay in synchrony with the tides and typically spent about 6 hours in the oceanic water. There was a diel pattern in the movements: 85% of outgoing trips occurred between midnight and noon. There were significant individual differences, but the likelihood of a dugong leaving the bay was independent of body length or sex. In Quarter 2 (April – June), the odds of a dugong making a trip increased by about 40% for each 1°C increase in the temperature difference between the bay and the warmer adjacent oceanic waters. In Quarter 3, the odds of making a trip were lower when the outside –inside bay temperature differences were small or negative but increased by a factor of up to 2.12 for each 1°C difference in outside – inside temperatures. In Quarter 4, the odds of making a trip were higher when it was cooler outside the bay and decreased by a factor of nearly 0.5 for each 1°C difference in outside – inside bay temperatures. The activity spaces of the dugongs generally declined as winter progressed suggesting a change in the cost-effectiveness of moving outside the bay. Our analysis suggests that dugongs can thermoregulate their core temperature through the behaviour of moving to water having more favourable temperature.

Keywords: acoustic, behavioral thermoregulation, dugongs, movements, satellite, telemetry, quick fix GPS

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9243 Automatic Segmentation of the Clean Speech Signal

Authors: M. A. Ben Messaoud, A. Bouzid, N. Ellouze

Abstract:

Speech Segmentation is the measure of the change point detection for partitioning an input speech signal into regions each of which accords to only one speaker. In this paper, we apply two features based on multi-scale product (MP) of the clean speech, namely the spectral centroid of MP, and the zero crossings rate of MP. We focus on multi-scale product analysis as an important tool for segmentation extraction. The multi-scale product is based on making the product of the speech wavelet transform coefficients at three successive dyadic scales. We have evaluated our method on the Keele database. Experimental results show the effectiveness of our method presenting a good performance. It shows that the two simple features can find word boundaries, and extracted the segments of the clean speech.

Keywords: multiscale product, spectral centroid, speech segmentation, zero crossings rate

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9242 Development of the Family Capacity of Management of Patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis

Authors: Marcio Emilio Dos Santos, Kelly C. F. Dos Santos

Abstract:

Caregivers of patients diagnosed with ASD are subjected to high stress situations due to the complexity and multiple levels of daily activities that require the organization of events, behaviors and socioemotional situations, such as immediate decision making and in public spaces. The cognitive and emotional requirement needed to fulfill this caregiving role exceeds the regular cultural process that adults receive in their process of preparation for conjugal and parental life. Therefore, in many cases, caregivers present a high level of overload, poor capacity to organize and mediate the development process of the child or patient about their care. Aims: Improvement in the cognitive and emotional capacities related to the caregiver function, allowing the reduction of the overload, the feeling of incompetence and the characteristic level of stress, developing a more organized conduct and decision making more oriented towards the objectives and procedural gains necessary for the integral development of the patient with diagnosis of ASD. Method: The study was performed with 20 relatives, randomly selected from a total of 140 patients attended. The family members were submitted to the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III intelligence test and the Family assessment Management Measure (FaMM) questionnaire as a previous evaluation. Therapeutic activity in a small group of family members or caregivers, with weekly frequency, with a minimum workload of two hours, using the Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment Cognitive Development Program - Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment for ten months. Reapplication of the previous tests to verify the gains obtained. Results and Discussion: There is a change in the level of caregiver overload, improvement in the results of the Family assessment Management Measure and highlight to the increase of performance in the cognitive aspects related to problem solving, planned behavior and management of behavioral crises. These results lead to the discussion of the need to invest in the integrated care of patients and their caregivers, mainly by enabling cognitively to deal with the complexity of Autism. This goes beyond the simple therapeutic orientation about adjustments in family and school routines. The study showed that when the caregiver improves his/her capacity of management, the results of the treatment are potentiated and there is a reduction of the level of the caregiver's overload. Importantly, the study was performed for only ten months and the number of family members attended in the study (n = 20) needs to be expanded to have statistical strength.

Keywords: caregiver overload, cognitive development program ASD caregivers, feuerstein instrumental enrichment, family assessment management measure

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9241 Evaluating Effectiveness of Training and Development Corporate Programs: The Russian Agribusiness Context

Authors: Ekaterina Tikhonova

Abstract:

This research is aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of T&D (Training and Development) on the example of two T&D programs for the Executive TOP Management run in 2012, 2015-2016 in Komos Group. This study is commissioned to research the effectiveness of two similar corporate T&D programs (within one company) in two periods of time (2012, 2015-2016) through evaluating the programs’ effectiveness using the four-level Kirkpatrick’s model of evaluating T&D programs and calculating ROI as an instrument for T&D program measuring by Phillips’ formula. The research investigates the correlation of two figures: the ROI calculated and the rating percentage scale per the ROI implementation (Wagle’s scale). The study includes an assessment of feedback 360 (Kirkpatrick's model) and Phillips’ ROI Methodology that provides a step-by-step process for collecting data, summarizing and processing the collected information. The data is collected from the company accounting data, the HR budgets, MCFO and the company annual reports for the research periods. All analyzed data and reports are organized and presented in forms of tables, charts, and graphs. The paper also gives a brief description of some constrains of the research considered. After ROI calculation, the study reveals that ROI ranges between the average implementation (65% to 75%) by Wagle’s scale that can be considered as a positive outcome. The paper also gives some recommendations how to use ROI in practice and describes main benefits of ROI implementation.

Keywords: ROI, organizational performance, efficacy of T&D program, employee performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 246