Search results for: lean tool

Authors: Angeliki Peponi, Paulo Morgado, Jorge Trindade

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Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are applied as a robust tool for modeling and forecasting the erosion changes in Costa Caparica, Lisbon, Portugal, for 2021. ANNs present noteworthy advantages compared with other methods used for prediction and decision making in urban coastal areas. Multilayer perceptron type of ANNs was used. Sensitivity analysis was conducted on natural and social forces and dynamic relations in the dune-beach system of the study area. Variations in network’s parameters were performed in order to select the optimum topology of the network. The developed methodology appears fitted to reality; however further steps would make it better suited.

Keywords: artificial neural networks, backpropagation, coastal urban zones, erosion prediction

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Authors: Gabriel Calvo, Carmen Armero, Luigi Spezia

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A basketball player is said to have a hot hand if his/her performance is better than expected in different periods of time. A way to deal with this phenomenon is to make use of latent variables, which can indicate whether the player is ‘on fire’ or not. This work aims to model the hot hand phenomenon through a Bayesian hidden Markov model (HMM) with two states (cold and hot) and two different probability of success depending on the corresponding hidden state. This task is illustrated through a comprehensive simulation study. The simulated data sets emulate the field goal attempts in an NBA season from different profile players. This model can be a powerful tool to assess the ‘streakiness’ of each player, and it provides information about the general performance of the players during the match. Finally, the Bayesian HMM allows computing the posterior probability of any type of streak.

Keywords: Bernoulli trials, field goals, latent variables, posterior distribution

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Authors: Nada Farhani, Naim Terbeh, Mounir Zrigui

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The recognition of the objects contained in images has always presented a challenge in the field of research because of several difficulties that the researcher can envisage because of the variability of shape, position, contrast of objects, etc. In this paper, we will be interested in the recognition of objects. The classical Hough Transform (HT) presented a tool for detecting straight line segments in images. The technique of HT has been generalized (GHT) for the detection of arbitrary forms. With GHT, the forms sought are not necessarily defined analytically but rather by a particular silhouette. For more precision, we proposed to combine the results from the GHT with the results from a calculation of similarity between the histograms and the spatiograms of the images. The main purpose of our work is to use the concepts from recognition to generate sentences in Arabic that summarize the content of the image.

Keywords: recognition of shape, generalized hough transformation, histogram, spatiogram, learning

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Authors: Edward B. Ssekulima, Amir Etemadi

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This paper presents a Systems Thinking and System of Systems (SoS) viewpoint for managing requirements complexity in the grid integration of Variable Renewable Energy (VRE). To achieve a SoS approach, it is often necessary to inculcate a Systems Thinking (ST) perspective in the planning and design of the attendant system. We show how this approach can support the enhanced integration of VRE (wind, solar small hydro) for which intermittency is a key inhibiting factor to their sustainable grid integration. The results indicate that a ST and SoS approach are a critical tool for decision makers in the planning, design and deployment of VRE Sources for their sustainable grid-integration in accordance with relevant techno-economic, social and environmental requirements.

Keywords: sustainable grid-integration, system of systems, systems thinking, variable energy resources

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Authors: Hyeon-Seong Kim, Sang-Mi Park, Seul-Gi Kim, Seon-Ju Han, Leen-Seok Kang

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The use of BIM, including 4D CAD system, in a construction project is gradually increasing. Since the building construction works repeatedly in the vertical space, it is relatively easy to confirm the interference effect when applying the BIM, but the interference effect for the civil engineering project is relatively small because the civil works perform non-repetitive processes in the horizontal space. For this reason, it is desirable to apply BIM to the construction phase when applying BIM to the civil engineering project, and the most active BIM tool applied to the construction phase is the 4D CAD function for the schedule management. This paper proposes the application procedure of BIM by the construction phase of civil engineering project and a linear 4D CAD construction methodology suitable for the civil engineering project in which linear work is performed.

Keywords: BIM, 4D CAD, linear 4D simulation, VR

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Authors: A. L. Agarwal, D. A. Mahajan

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Construction industry tumbled along with other industry/sectors during recent economic crash. Construction business could not regain thereafter and still pass through slowdown phase, resulted many real estate as well as infrastructure projects not completed on schedule and within budget. There are many theories, tools, techniques with software packages available in the market to analyze construction schedule. This study focuses on the construction project schedule and uncertainties associated with construction activities. The infrastructure construction project has been considered for the analysis of uncertainty on project activities affecting project duration and analysis is done using @RISK software. Different simulation results arising from three probability distribution functions are compiled to benefit construction project managers to plan more realistic schedule of various construction activities as well as project completion to document in the contract and avoid compensations or claims arising out of missing the planned schedule.

Keywords: construction project, distributions, project schedule, uncertainty

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Authors: Jeonghwan Jeon

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Technology planning with both internal capacity and external resource is necessary for successful open innovation. Until now, many types of research have been conducted for this issue. However, technology planning for open innovation at the national level has not been researched sufficiently. This study proposes Open roadmap for open innovation at the national level. The proposed open roadmap can manage the inflow & outflow open innovation systematically. Six types of open roadmap are classified with respect to the innovation direction and characteristics. The proposed open roadmap is applied to the open innovation cases of the Roman period. The proposed open roadmap is expected to be helpful tool for technology policy planning at the national level.

Keywords: technology planning, open innovation, internal resource, external resource, technology management

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Authors: Michał Rogala, Jakub Gajewski

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As the automotive industry develops, passive safety is becoming an increasingly important aspect when designing motor vehicles. A commonly used solution is energy absorption by thin-walled construction. One such structure is a closed thin-walled profile fixed to the vehicle stringers. The article presents numerical tests of conical thin-walled profiles filled with aluminum foam. The columns were loaded axially with constant energy. On the basis of the results obtained, efficiency indicators were calculated. The efficiency of the foam filling was evaluated. Artificial neural networks were used for data analysis. The application of regression analysis was used as a tool to study the relationship between the quantities characteristic of the dynamic crush.

Keywords: aluminium foam, crashworthiness, neural networks, thin-walled structure

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Authors: Aicha Laouani, Sonia Rouatbi, Saad Saguem, Gila Benchetrit, Pascale calabrese

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A new approach based on respiratory inductive plethysmography (RIP) signal analysis has been used for bronchoconstriction changes evaluation in 50 healthy controls and in 44 adults with moderate bronchial obstruction treated with a bronchodilatation protocol. Thoracic and abdominal motions were recorded ( 5 min) by RIP. For each recording the thoracoabdominal signals were analysed and a mean distance (D) was calculated. Airway resistance (Raw) and spirometric data were measured with a body plethysmograph. The results showed that both D and Raw were higher in subjects compared to the healthy group. Significant decreases of D and Raw were also observed after bronchodilatation in the obstructive group. There was also a positive and a significant correlation between D and Raw in subjects before and after bronchodilatation. This D calculated from RIP Signals could be used as a non invasive tool for continuous monitoring of bronchoconstriction changes.

Keywords: airway resistance, bronchoconstriction, thorax, respiratory inductive plethysmography

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Authors: Andreas Kapardis, Maria Krambia-Kapardis, Sofia Michaelides-Mateou

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Corruption and economic crime is a serious problem affecting the sustainability of businesses in the 21st century. Nowadays, many corruption or fraud cases come to light thanks to whistleblowers. This article will first discuss the concept of whistleblowing as well as some relevant legislation enacted around the world. Secondly, it will discuss the findings of a survey of whistleblowers or could-have-been whistleblowers. Finally, suggestions for the development of a comprehensive whistleblowing framework will be considered. Whistleblowing can be described as expressing a concern about a wrongdoing within an organization, such as a corporation, an association, an institution or a union. Such concern must be in the public interest and in good faith and should relate to the cover up of matters that could potentially result in a miscarriage of justice, a crime, criminal offence and threats to health and safety. Whistleblowing has proven to be an effective anti-corruption mechanism and a powerful tool that helps deterring fraud, violations, and malpractices within organizations, corporations and the public sector. Research in the field of whistleblowing has concentrated on the reasons for whistleblowing and financial bounties; the effectiveness of whistleblowing; whistleblowing being a prosocial behavior with a psychological perspective and consequences; as a tool in protecting shareholders, saving lives and billions of dollars of public funds. Whilst, no other study of whistleblowing has been carried out on whistleblowers or intended whistleblowers. The study reported in the current paper analyses the findings of 74 whistleblowers or intended whistleblowers, the reasons behind their decision to blow the whistle, or not to proceed to blow the whistle and any regrets they may have had. In addition a profile of a whistleblower is developed concerning their age, gender, marital and family status and position in an organization. Lessons learned from the intended whistleblowers and in response to the questions if they would be willing to blow the whistle again show that enacting legislation to protect the whistleblower is not enough. Similarly, rewarding the whistleblower does not appear to provide the whistleblower with an incentive since the majority noted that “work ethics is more important than financial rewards”. We recommend the development of a comprehensive and holistic framework for the protection of the whistleblower and to ensure that remedial actions are immediately taken once a whistleblower comes forward. The suggested framework comprises (a) hard legislation in ensuring the whistleblowers follow certain principles when blowing the whistle and, in return, are protected for a period of 5 years from being fired, dismissed, bullied, harassed; (b) soft legislation in establishing an agency to firstly ensure psychological and legal advice is provided to the whistleblowers and secondly any required remedial action is immediately taken to avert the undesirable events reported by a whistleblower from occurring and, finally; (c) mechanisms to ensure the coordination of actions taken.

Keywords: whistleblowing, business ethics, legislation, business

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Authors: Wasse Uddin Ahmed Saleh, Nawreenbinte Anwar

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A well-written operating note is crucial as a teaching tool for providing patients with high-quality medical care and fending off medico-legal claims. In this review article, some adjustments have been advised to the operative note guidelines by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) for different methods of ocular anesthesia and ophthalmic procedures like cataract surgeries, kerato-refractive surgeries, glaucoma surgeries, oculoplastic surgeries, etc. Some modifications of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist have also been mentioned, including pre-operative responsibilities of the nurses, operative assistants and operating ophthalmologists. It has become essential to assemble globally accepted structured operative note guidelines modified for each ocular surgery.

Keywords: ocular surgeries, operation notes, cataract surgery, kerato-refractive surgery, Oculoplastic surgeries, guidelines

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Authors: H. E. Elzain, S. Y. Chung, V. Senapathi, Kye-Hun Park

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Groundwater is considered a significant source for drinking and irrigation purposes in Miryang city, and it is attributed to a limited number of a surface water reservoirs and high seasonal variations in precipitation. Population growth in addition to the expansion of agricultural land uses and industrial development may affect the quality and management of groundwater. This research utilized multidisciplinary approaches of geostatistics such as multivariate statistics, factor analysis, cluster analysis and kriging technique in order to identify the hydrogeochemical process and characterizing the control factors of the groundwater geochemistry distribution for developing risk maps, exploiting data obtained from chemical investigation of groundwater samples under the area of study. A total of 79 samples have been collected and analyzed using atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) for major and trace elements. Chemical maps using 2-D spatial Geographic Information System (GIS) of groundwater provided a powerful tool for detecting the possible potential sites of groundwater that involve the threat of contamination. GIS computer based map exhibited that the higher rate of contamination observed in the central and southern area with relatively less extent in the northern and southwestern parts. It could be attributed to the effect of irrigation, residual saline water, municipal sewage and livestock wastes. At wells elevation over than 85m, the scatter diagram represents that the groundwater of the research area was mainly influenced by saline water and NO3. Level of pH measurement revealed low acidic condition due to dissolved atmospheric CO2 in the soil, while the saline water had a major impact on the higher values of TDS and EC. Based on the cluster analysis results, the groundwater has been categorized into three group includes the CaHCO3 type of the fresh water, NaHCO3 type slightly influenced by sea water and Ca-Cl, Na-Cl types which are heavily affected by saline water. The most predominant water type was CaHCO3 in the study area. Contamination sources and chemical characteristics were identified from factor analysis interrelationship and cluster analysis. The chemical elements that belong to factor 1 analysis were related to the effect of sea water while the elements of factor 2 associated with agricultural fertilizers. The degree level, distribution, and location of groundwater contamination have been generated by using Kriging methods. Thus, geostatistics model provided more accurate results for identifying the source of contamination and evaluating the groundwater quality. GIS was also a creative tool to visualize and analyze the issues affecting water quality in the Miryang city.

Keywords: groundwater characteristics, GIS chemical maps, factor analysis, cluster analysis, Kriging techniques

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Authors: Jiao F. Huang, Shi Chen, Shu C. Duan, Gang H. Wang

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Due to its complex spatial structure as well as dynamic temporal evolution, an analytic solution of an X-pinch process is out of question, and numerical simulation becomes an important tool in X-pinch studies. Intrinsically, simulations of X-pinch are three-dimensional (3D) because of the specific structure of its load. Furthermore, in order to resolve both its μm-scales and ns-durations, fine spatial mesh grid and short time steps are usually adopted. The resulting large computational scales make the parallelization of codes a vital problem to be solved if any practical simulations are to be carried out. In this work, we report OpenMP parallelization of our 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code FOI-PERFECT. Results of test runs confirm that computational efficiency has been improved after parallelization, and both the sequential and parallel versions give the same physical results under the same initial conditions.

Keywords: MHD simulation, OpenMP, parallelization, X-pinch

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Authors: Emma K. Sales, Nilda G. Butardo

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The project was undertaken to determine the effects of modified tissue culture protocols e.g. age of culture and hormone levels (2,4-D) in generating somaclonal variation. Moreover, the utility of molecular markers (SSR and MSAP) in sorting off types/somaclones were investigated. Results show that somaclonal variation is in effect due to prolonged subculture and high 2,4-D concentration. The resultant variation was observed to be due to high level of methylation events specifically cytosine methylation either at the internal or external cytosine and was identified by methylation sensitive amplification polymorphism (MSAP). Simple sequence repeats (SSR) on the other hand, was able to associate a marker to a trait of interest. These therefore, show that molecular markers can be an important tool in sorting out variation/mutants at an early stage.

Keywords: methylation, MSAP, somaclones, SSR, subculture, 2, 4-D

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Authors: Margarida Plana

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The end-users behavior has been identified in the last years as one of the main responsible for the success degree of the energy efficiency improvements. It is essential to create tools to limit their impact on the final consumption. This paper is focused on presenting the results of the analysis developed on the basis of real projects’ data in order to quantify the impact of end-users behavior. The analysis is focused on how the behavior of building’s occupants can vary the achievement of the energy savings targets and how they can be limited. The results obtained show that the management systems are one of the main tools available to control and limit the end-users interaction with the equipment operation. In fact, the results will present the management systems as ‘a must’ on any energy efficiency project.

Keywords: end-users impacts, energy efficiency, energy savings, management systems

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Authors: Elaheh Talebi, Fariba Yavari, Lucy Philip, Lesley Town

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The mining industry generates vast amounts of data, necessitating robust data management systems and advanced analytics tools to achieve better decision-making processes in the development of mining production and maintaining safety. This paper highlights the advantages of Power BI, a powerful intelligence tool, over traditional Excel-based approaches for effectively managing and harnessing mining data. Power BI enables professionals to connect and integrate multiple data sources, ensuring real-time access to up-to-date information. Its interactive visualizations and dashboards offer an intuitive interface for exploring and analyzing geotechnical data. Advanced analytics is a collection of data analysis techniques to improve decision-making. Leveraging some of the most complex techniques in data science, advanced analytics is used to do everything from detecting data errors and ensuring data accuracy to directing the development of future project phases. However, while Power BI is a robust tool, specific visualizations required by geotechnical engineers may have limitations. This paper studies the capability to use Python or R programming within the Power BI dashboard to enable advanced analytics, additional functionalities, and customized visualizations. This dashboard provides comprehensive tools for analyzing and visualizing key geotechnical data metrics, including spatial representation on maps, field and lab test results, and subsurface rock and soil characteristics. Advanced visualizations like borehole logs and Stereonet were implemented using Python programming within the Power BI dashboard, enhancing the understanding and communication of geotechnical information. Moreover, the dashboard's flexibility allows for the incorporation of additional data and visualizations based on the project scope and available data, such as pit design, rock fall analyses, rock mass characterization, and drone data. This further enhances the dashboard's usefulness in future projects, including operation, development, closure, and rehabilitation phases. Additionally, this helps in minimizing the necessity of utilizing multiple software programs in projects. This geotechnical dashboard in Power BI serves as a user-friendly solution for analyzing, visualizing, and communicating both new and historical geotechnical data, aiding in informed decision-making and efficient project management throughout various project stages. Its ability to generate dynamic reports and share them with clients in a collaborative manner further enhances decision-making processes and facilitates effective communication within geotechnical projects in the mining industry.

Keywords: geotechnical data analysis, power BI, visualization, decision-making, mining industry

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Authors: Vinay Patil, Swapnil Kekade, Ashish Supare, Vinayak Pawar, Shital Jadhav, Rajkumar Singh

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In recent days, bainitic steel is used in automobile and non-automobile sectors due to its high strength. Bainitic steel is difficult to machine because of its high hardness, hence in this paper machinability of bainitic steel is studied by using Taguchi design of experiments (DOE) approach. Convectional turning experiments were done by using L16 orthogonal array for three input parameters viz. cutting speed, depth of cut and feed. The Taguchi method is applied to study the performance characteristics of machining parameters with surface roughness (Ra), cutting force and tool wear rate. By using Taguchi analysis, optimized process parameters for best surface finish and minimum cutting forces were analyzed.

Keywords: conventional turning, Taguchi method, S/N ratio, bainitic steel machining

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Authors: Kaustav Mukherjee

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In this paper we propose a Neural Style Transfer solution whereby we have created a Lightweight Separable Convolution Kernel Based GAN Architecture (SC-GAN) which will very useful for designing filter for Mobile Phone Cameras and also Edge Devices which will convert any image to its 2D ANIMATED COMIC STYLE Movies like HEMAN, SUPERMAN, JUNGLE-BOOK. This will help the 2D animation artist by relieving to create new characters from real life person's images without having to go for endless hours of manual labour drawing each and every pose of a cartoon. It can even be used to create scenes from real life images.This will reduce a huge amount of turn around time to make 2D animated movies and decrease cost in terms of manpower and time. In addition to that being extreme light-weight it can be used as camera filters capable of taking Comic Style Shots using mobile phone camera or edge device cameras like Raspberry Pi 4,NVIDIA Jetson NANO etc. Existing Methods like CartoonGAN with the model size close to 170 MB is too heavy weight for mobile phones and edge devices due to their scarcity in resources. Compared to the current state of the art our proposed method which has a total model size of 31 MB which clearly makes it ideal and ultra-efficient for designing of camera filters on low resource devices like mobile phones, tablets and edge devices running OS or RTOS. .Owing to use of high resolution input and usage of bigger convolution kernel size it produces richer resolution Comic-Style Pictures implementation with 6 times lesser number of parameters and with just 25 extra epoch trained on a dataset of less than 1000 which breaks the myth that all GAN need mammoth amount of data. Our network reduces the density of the Gan architecture by using Depthwise Separable Convolution which does the convolution operation on each of the RGB channels separately then we use a Point-Wise Convolution to bring back the network into required channel number using 1 by 1 kernel.This reduces the number of parameters substantially and makes it extreme light-weight and suitable for mobile phones and edge devices. The architecture mentioned in the present paper make use of Parameterised Batch Normalization Goodfellow etc al. (Deep Learning OPTIMIZATION FOR TRAINING DEEP MODELS page 320) which makes the network to use the advantage of Batch Norm for easier training while maintaining the non-linear feature capture by inducing the learnable parameters

Keywords: comic stylisation from camera image using GAN, creating 2D animated movie style custom stickers from images, depth-wise separable convolutional neural network for light-weight GAN architecture for EDGE devices, GAN architecture for 2D animated cartoonizing neural style, neural style transfer for edge, model distilation, perceptual loss

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Authors: Mehrnoosh Askarizadeh

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The foundation of all marketing is composed by relations. Thus, all marketing activities concentrated to establish, develop and maintain successful relational exchanges. By building strong relational bonds, relationship marketing improves customer loyalty resulting in improved firm performance. Relationship marketing is a strategically important tool to use to obtain and secure the result of customer’s loyalty, which leads to higher competitiveness and also enhanced satisfaction among the customers. The study revealed that there subsist significant relationships between customer satisfaction and loyalty. It is recognized that with improvement of customer satisfaction a firm will find customers that are more loyal. Based it, firm managers are advised to satisfy and better manage their relationships through quality product and service offerings to their customers as a competitive policy in the marketplace. These offerings are required to meet or surpass consumers’ expectations.

Keywords: customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, trend, relationship marketing

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Authors: T. Lazzarini, M. Imbiki, P. E. Sutter, G. Borragan

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While several strategies, such as the development of more efficient appliances, the financing of insulation programs or the rolling out of smart meters represent promising tools to reduce future energy consumption, their implementation relies on people’s decisions-actions. Likewise, engaging with consumers to reshape their behavior has shown to be another important way to reduce energy usage. For these reasons, integrating the human factor in the energy transition has become a major objective for researchers and policymakers. Digital education programs based on tangible and gamified user interfaces have become a new tool with potential effects to reduce energy consumption4. The B2020 program, developed by the firm “Économie d’Énergie SAS”, proposes a digital platform to encourage pro-environmental behavior change among employees and citizens. The platform integrates 160 eco-behaviors to help saving energy and water and reducing waste and CO2 emissions. A total of 13,146 citizens have used the tool so far to declare the range of eco-behaviors they adopt in their daily lives. The present work seeks to build on this database to identify the potential impact of adopted energy-saving behaviors (n=62) to reduce the use of energy in buildings. To this end, behaviors were classified into three categories regarding the nature of its implementation (Eco-habits: e.g., turning-off the light, Eco-actions: e.g., installing low carbon technology such as led light-bulbs and Home-Refurbishments: e.g., such as wall-insulation or double-glazed energy efficient windows). General Linear Models (GLM) disclosed the existence of a significantly higher frequency of Eco-habits when compared to the number of home-refurbishments realized by the platform users. While this might be explained in part by the high financial costs that are associated with home renovation works, it also contrasts with the up to three times larger energy-savings that can be accomplished by these means. Furthermore, multiple regression models failed to disclose the expected relationship between energy-savings and frequency of adopted eco behaviors, suggesting that energy-related practices are not necessarily driven by the correspondent energy-savings. Finally, our results also suggested that people adopting more Eco-habits and Eco-actions were more likely to engage in Home-Refurbishments. Altogether, these results fit well with a growing body of scientific research, showing that energy-related practices do not necessarily maximize utility, as postulated by traditional economic models, and suggest that other variables might be triggering them. Promoting home refurbishments could benefit from the adoption of complementary energy-saving habits and actions.

Keywords: energy-saving behavior, human performance, behavioral change, energy efficiency

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Authors: Prikhil Agrawal, N. Priyanka

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With the increase of millions of users on Internet day by day, it is very essential to maintain highly reliable and secured data communication between various corporations. Although there are various traditional security imparting techniques such as antivirus software, password protection, data encryption, biometrics and firewall etc. But still network security has become the main issue in various leading companies. So IDSs have become an essential component in terms of security, as it can detect various network attacks and respond quickly to such occurrences. IDSs are used to detect unauthorized access to a computer system. This paper describes various intrusion detection techniques using GA approach. The intrusion detection problem has become a challenging task due to the conception of miscellaneous computer networks under various vulnerabilities. Thus the damage caused to various organizations by malicious intrusions can be mitigated and even be deterred by using this powerful tool.

Keywords: genetic algorithm (GA), intrusion detection system (IDS), dataset, network security

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Authors: Morar (Bumbu) Nicoleta Ileana

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Located in the northeastern part of Romania in a cross-border area, Bucovina region, due to historical events that took place here, is characterized by the cohabitation in the same area of a significant number of ethnic communities, represented in 54% by rural population. In addition to providing the natural, economic history and decision makers, the demographic component is responsible for the region's development trajectory to which it belongs. The influence that people exert on rural development is shown by the values of the different demographic indicator. This study will analyze the demographic indicators obtained against a strong database, emphasizing the indicators that favor the rural development of the region and those that prevent it. The study is useful in defining the rightful directions that rural economic development can focus on, also representing an important tool in developing strategies for the development of rural settlements of Bucovina region.

Keywords: Bucovina, development directions, demographic indicators, rural development

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Authors: Kathrina Aseanne Acapulco-Gomez, Shayne Julieane Morales, Tzar Francis Verame

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Mean platelet volume (MPV) is the most accurate measure of the size of platelets and is routinely measured by most automated hematological analyzers. Several studies have shown associations between MPV and cardiovascular risks and outcomes. Although its measurement may provide useful data, MPV remains to be a diagnostic tool that is yet to be included in routine clinical decision making. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to determine summary estimates of the diagnostic accuracy of mean platelet volume for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction among adult patients with angina and/or its equivalents in terms of sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio, and likelihood ratios, and to determine the difference of the mean MPV values between those with MI and those in the non-MI controls. The primary search was done through search in electronic databases PubMed, Cochrane Review CENTRAL, HERDIN (Health Research and Development Information Network), Google Scholar, Philippine Journal of Pathology, and Philippine College of Physicians Philippine Journal of Internal Medicine. The reference list of original reports was also searched. Cross-sectional, cohort, and case-control articles studying the diagnostic performance of mean platelet volume in the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction in adult patients were included in the study. Studies were included if: (1) CBC was taken upon presentation to the ER or upon admission (within 24 hours of symptom onset); (2) myocardial infarction was diagnosed with serum markers, ECG, or according to accepted guidelines by the Cardiology societies (American Heart Association (AHA), American College of Cardiology (ACC), European Society of Cardiology (ESC); and, (3) if outcomes were measured as significant difference AND/OR sensitivity and specificity. The authors independently screened for inclusion of all the identified potential studies as a result of the search. Eligible studies were appraised using well-defined criteria. Any disagreement between the reviewers was resolved through discussion and consensus. The overall mean MPV value of those with MI (9.702 fl; 95% CI 9.07 – 10.33) was higher than in those of the non-MI control group (8.85 fl; 95% CI 8.23 – 9.46). Interpretation of the calculated t-value of 2.0827 showed that there was a significant difference in the mean MPV values of those with MI and those of the non-MI controls. The summary sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) for MPV were 0.66 (95% CI; 0.59 - 0.73) and 0.60 (95% CI; 0.43 – 0.75), respectively. The pooled diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) was 2.92 (95% CI; 1.90 – 4.50). The positive likelihood ratio of MPV in the diagnosis of myocardial infarction was 1.65 (95% CI; 1.20 – 22.27), and the negative likelihood ratio was 0.56 (95% CI; 0.50 – 0.64). The intended role for MPV in the diagnostic pathway of myocardial infarction would perhaps be best as a triage tool. With a DOR of 2.92, MPV values can discriminate between those who have MI and those without. For a patient with angina presenting with elevated MPV values, it is 1.65 times more likely that he has MI. Thus, it is implied that the decision to treat a patient with angina or its equivalents as a case of MI could be supported by an elevated MPV value.

Keywords: mean platelet volume, MPV, myocardial infarction, angina, chest pain

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Authors: Woo-Young Jung, Minho Kwon

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Seismic design criteria based on performance of structures have recently been adopted by practicing engineers in response to destructive earthquakes. A simple but efficient structural-analysis tool capable of predicting both the strength and ductility is needed to analyze reinforced concrete (RC) structures under such event. A three-dimensional lattice model is developed in this study to analyze torsions in high-strength RC members. Optimization techniques for determining optimal variables in each lattice model are introduced. Pure torsion tests of RC members are performed to validate the proposed model. Correlation studies between the numerical and experimental results confirm that the proposed model is well capable of representing salient features of the experimental results.

Keywords: torsion, non-linear analysis, three-dimensional lattice, high-strength concrete

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Authors: Muneer Abbad

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In search of better, traditional learning universities have expanded their ways to deliver knowledge and integrate cost effective e-learning systems. Universities’ use of information and communication technologies has grown tremendously over the last decade. To ensure efficient use of the e-learning system, this project aimed to evaluate the good and bad practices, detect errors and determine areas for further improvements in usage. This project critically evaluated the students’ perception of the e-learning system and recommended changes to improve students’ e-learning usage, through conducting questionnaire given to the students that have experience with e-learning systems. Results of the study indicated that, in general, students have favourable perceptions toward using the e-learning system. They seemed to value the resources tool and its contribution to building their knowledge more than other e-learning tools. However, they seemed to perceive a limited value from the audio or video podcasts. This study has shown that technology acceptance is the most variable, factor that contributes to students’ perception and satisfaction of the e-learning system.

Keywords: e-learning, perception, Jordan, universities

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Authors: Sinem Toraman, Aysun Öztuna Kaplan, Hatice Mertoğlu, Esra Macaroğlu Akgül

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This study aims to examine pre-service teachers’ opinions on disabled people taking into consideration various variables. The participants of the study are composed of 170 pre-service teachers being 1st year students of different branches at Education Department of Yıldız Technical, Yeditepe, Marmara and Sakarya Universities. Data of the research was collected in 2013-2014 fall term. This study was designed as a phenomenological study appropriately qualitative research paradigm. Pre-service teachers’ opinions about disabled people were examined in this study, open ended question form which was prepared by researcher and focus group interview techniques were used as data collection tool. The study presents pre-service teachers’ opinions about disabled people which were mentioned, and suggestions about teacher education.

Keywords: pre-service teachers, disabled people, teacher education, teachers' opinions

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Authors: Hyeongju Jeon, Yonghyun Kim, Yongil Kim

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Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is an effective tool for damage assessment induced by disasters due to its all-weather and night/day acquisition capability. In this paper, the 2017 Colombia landslide was observed using full-polarimetric ALOS/PALSAR-2 data. Polarimetric decompositions, including the Freeman-Durden decomposition and the Cloude decomposition, are utilized to analyze the scattering mechanisms changes before and after-landslide. These analyses are used to detect the damaged areas induced by the landslide. Experimental results validate the efficiency of the full polarimetric SAR data since the damaged areas can be well discriminated. Thus, we can conclude the proposed method using full polarimetric data has great potential for damage assessment of landslides.

Keywords: Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), polarimetric decomposition, damage assessment, landslide

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Authors: Juan Manuel Sanchez-Cartas, Gonzalo Leon

Abstract:

A price competition algorithm for ABMs based on game theory principles is proposed to deal with the simulation of theoretical market models. The algorithm is applied to the classical Hotelling’s model and to a two-sided market model to show it leads to the optimal behavior predicted by theoretical models. However, when theoretical models fail to predict the equilibrium, the algorithm is capable of reaching a feasible outcome. Results highlight that the algorithm can be implemented in other simulation models to guarantee rational users and endogenous optimal behaviors. Also, it can be applied as a tool of verification given that is theoretically based.

Keywords: agent-based models, algorithmic game theory, multi-sided markets, price optimization

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Authors: Laura Isabel Guarin, Juliana Vargas, Philippe Chang

Abstract:

The analysis and study of Open Channel flow dynamics for River applications has been based on flow modelling using discreet numerical models based on hydrodynamic equations. The overall spatial characteristics of rivers, i.e. its length to depth to width ratio generally allows one to correctly disregard processes occurring in the vertical or transverse dimensions thus imposing hydrostatic pressure conditions and considering solely a 1D flow model along the river length. Through a calibration process an accurate flow model may thus be developed allowing for channel study and extrapolation of various scenarios. The Magdalena River in Colombia is a large river basin draining the country from South to North with 1550 km with 0.0024 average slope and 275 average width across. The river displays high water level fluctuation and is characterized by a series of meanders. The city of La Dorada has been affected over the years by serious flooding in the rainy and dry seasons. As the meander is evolving at a steady pace repeated flooding has endangered a number of neighborhoods. This study has been undertaken in pro of correctly model flow characteristics of the river in this region in order to evaluate various scenarios and provide decision makers with erosion control measures options and a forecasting tool. Two field campaigns have been completed over the dry and rainy seasons including extensive topographical and channel survey using Topcon GR5 DGPS and River Surveyor ADCP. Also in order to characterize the erosion process occurring through the meander, extensive suspended and river bed samples were retrieved as well as soil perforation over the banks. Hence based on DEM ground digital mapping survey and field data a 2DH flow model was prepared using the Iber freeware based on the finite volume method in a non-structured mesh environment. The calibration process was carried out comparing available historical data of nearby hydrologic gauging station. Although the model was able to effectively predict overall flow processes in the region, its spatial characteristics and limitations related to pressure conditions did not allow for an accurate representation of erosion processes occurring over specific bank areas and dwellings. As such a significant helical flow has been observed through the meander. Furthermore, the rapidly changing channel cross section as a consequence of severe erosion has hindered the model’s ability to provide decision makers with a valid up to date planning tool.

Keywords: erosion, finite volume method, flow dynamics, flow modelling, meander

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Authors: Ekaterina Posokhova, Boris Gavrilov

Abstract:

Priority national projects have become an essential phenomenon in the Russian Federation. Both regional and local government institutions and a significant part of the society have been involved in their implementation. The scale and multispectricity of the national projects give a reason to believe that their concept is beyond the scope of the individual state programs. The national project “environment” contains federal projects on waste management, water, and air quality, ecotourism development, and biodiversity conservation highlights the importance of the preservation and restoration of Volga River and Lake Baikal ecosystems. This study assesses the national projects according to their relativeness with the current SDGs (i.e., SGD 14 and 15), evaluates the methodology of the projects. The paper considers the peculiarities of the national projects as strategic management tools as well as the possibility of amending the project objective indicators. Conclusion on the effectiveness of NP in terms of achieving SDGs is provided.

Keywords: management, SDP, russia, conservation, law

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