Search results for: infrastructure intervention

Authors: Laura N. Bolivar T.

Abstract:

The tourism importance for regional development is mainly highlighted by the collaborative, cooperating and competitive relationships of the involved agents. The fostering of associativity processes, in particular, the cluster approach emphasizes the beneficial outcomes from the concentration of enterprises, where innovation and entrepreneurship flourish and shape the dynamics for tourism empowerment. Considering the department of Huila, it is located in the south-west of Colombia and holds the biggest coffee production in the country, although it barely contributes to the national GDP. Hence, its economic development strategy is looking for more dynamism and Huila could be consolidated as a leading destination for cultural, ecological and heritage tourism, if at least the public policy making processes for the tourism management of La Tatacoa Desert, San Agustin Park and Bambuco’s National Festival, were implemented in a more efficient manner. In this order of ideas, this study attempts to address the potential restrictions and beneficial factors for the consolidation of the tourism sector of Huila-Colombia as a cluster and how could it impact its regional development. Therefore, a set of theoretical frameworks such as the Tourism Routes Approach, the Tourism Breeding Environment, the Community-based Tourism Method, among others, but also a collection of international experiences describing tourism clustering processes and most outstanding problematics, is analyzed to draw up learning points, structure of proceedings and success-driven factors to be contrasted with the local characteristics in Huila, as the region under study. This characterization involves primary and secondary information collection methods and comprises the South American and Colombian context together with the identification of involved actors and their roles, main interactions among them, major tourism products and their infrastructure, the visitors’ perspective on the situation and a recap of the related needs and benefits regarding the host community. Considering the umbrella concepts, the theoretical and the empirical approaches, and their comparison with the local specificities of the tourism sector in Huila, an array of shortcomings is analytically constructed and a series of guidelines are proposed as a way to overcome them and simultaneously, raise economic development and positively impact Huila’s well-being. This non-exhaustive bundle of guidelines is focused on fostering cooperating linkages in the actors’ network, dealing with Information and Communication Technologies’ innovations, reinforcing the supporting infrastructure, promoting the destinations considering the less known places as well, designing an information system enabling the tourism network to assess the situation based on reliable data, increasing competitiveness, developing participative public policy-making processes and empowering the host community about the touristic richness. According to this, cluster dynamics would drive the tourism sector to meet articulation and joint effort, then involved agents and local particularities would be adequately assisted to cope with the current changing environment of globalization and competition.

Keywords: innovative strategy, local development, network of tourism actors, tourism cluster

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: Bahaa Eltahawy, Mikko Ylihärsilä, Reino Virrankoski, Esko Petäjä

Abstract:

Sheet metal processing is automated, but the step from product models to the production machine control still requires human intervention. This may cause time consuming bottlenecks in the production process and increase the risk of human errors. In this paper we present a system, which automatically recognizes features from the CAD-model of the sheet metal product. By using these features, the system produces a complete model of the particular sheet metal product. Then the model is used as an input for the sheet metal processing machine. Currently the system is implemented, capable to recognize more than 11 of the most common sheet metal structural features, and the procedure is fully automated. This provides remarkable savings in the production time, and protects against the human errors. This paper presents the developed system architecture, applied algorithms and system software implementation and testing.

Keywords: feature recognition, automation, sheet metal manufacturing, CAD, CAM

Procedia PDF Downloads 334

Authors: Analise Borg, Paul Micallef

Abstract:

Over the past few years, the online multimedia collection has grown at a fast pace. Several companies showed interest to study the different ways to organize the amount of audio information without the need of human intervention to generate metadata. In the past few years, many applications have emerged on the market which are capable of identifying a piece of music in a short time. Different audio effects and degradation make it much harder to identify the unknown piece. In this paper, an audio fingerprinting system which makes use of a non-parametric based algorithm is presented. Parametric analysis is also performed using Gaussian Mixture Models (GMMs). The feature extraction methods employed are the Mel Spectrum Coefficients and the MPEG-7 basic descriptors. Bin numbers replaced the extracted feature coefficients during the non-parametric modelling. The results show that non-parametric analysis offer potential results as the ones mentioned in the literature.

Keywords: audio fingerprinting, mapping algorithm, Gaussian Mixture Models, MFCC, MPEG-7

Procedia PDF Downloads 401

Authors: Sabri Sulaiman, Siti Hajar Abu Bakar Ah, Haris Abd Wahab

Abstract:

Street children is a global phenomenon and declared as a social problem by social researcher and scholars across the world. The insecure street environment exposes street children into various risk factors. One of them is the health and psychological problem. The objective of this study is to assess the health problem and psychological wellbeing of street children in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The cross-sectional study involved 303 street children in Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur. The study confirmed that the majority (95.7%) of street children who participated in the study have a health problem. The findings also demonstrated that the majority of them have issues related to their psychological wellbeing. The inputs from this study are instrumental for the suggestion of specific intervention to improve the health and psychology wellbeing of street children in Malaysia. Agencies which are responsible for the street children well-being can utilise the inputs to framing and improving the social care programmes for the children.

Keywords: street children, health status, psychology wellbeing, homeless

Procedia PDF Downloads 163

Authors: Evy Sulistianingsih, Mariatul Kiftiah, Dedi Rosadi, Heni Wahyuni

Abstract:

This research attempts to analyse palm oil production and rubber production to prosperity of the community of ten districts in West Kalimantan namely Sanggau, Sintang, Sambas, Ketapang, Bengkayang, Landak, Singkawang, Kapuas Hulu, Melawi and Sekadau by panel regression. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the districts will be used to be a prosperity indicator on this research. Based on the result of analysis, it can be concluded that palm oil and rubber production statistically give contribution to GDP. Adjusted coefficient determination of Fixed Effect Model indicates that 76% of GDP’s variation can be explained by palm oil and rubber production. In another point of view, there should be a district’s government intervention to regulate the plantations. In addition, there is an obligation of the government to monitor regularly the plantations and to conduct researches in order to govern better planning of lands that have been used to the plantations. So that, the environmental effects that have been caused by the plantation can be diminished.

Keywords: gross domestic product (GDP), panel, palm, welfare

Procedia PDF Downloads 240

Authors: Yidan Shao

Abstract:

With the advancement of the economy, technology promotes online teaching, and learning has become one of the common features in the educational field. Meanwhile, the dramatic expansion of the online environment provides opportunities for more learners, including second language learners. A greater command of vocabulary improves students’ learning capacity, and word acquisition and development play a critical role in learning. Furthermore, the Word Wall is an effective tool to improve students’ knowledge of words, which works for a wide range of age groups. Therefore, this study is going to use the Word Wall as an intervention to examine whether it can bring some memorization changes in an online English language class for a second language learner based on the word morphology method. The participant will take ten courses in the experiment as it plans. The findings show that the Word Wall activity plays a slight role in improving word memorizing, but it does affect instant memorization. If longer periods and more comprehensive designs of research can be applied, it is expected to have more value.

Keywords: second language acquisition, word morphology, word memorization, the Word Wall

Procedia PDF Downloads 98

Authors: Zaid A. Janjua, Barbara Turnbull, Kwing-So Choi

Abstract:

The adhesion of glaze ice on power infrastructure, ships and aerofoils cause monetary and structural damage. Here we investigate the influence of temperature as an important parameter affecting adhesion strength of ice. Two terms are defined to investigate this: 'freezing temperature', the temperature at which glaze ice forms; and 'ambient temperature', the temperature of the surrounding during the test. Using three metal surfaces, the adhesion strength of ice has been calculated as a value of shear stress at the point of detachment on a spinning centrifuge. Findings show that the ambient temperature has a greater influence than the freezing temperature on the adhesion strength of ice. This is because there exists an amorphous liquid-like layer at the ice-surface interface, whose bond with the surface increases in strength at lower ambient temperatures when the substrate conducts heat much faster than the ice and acts as a heat sink. The results will help us to measure the actual adhesion strength of ice to metal surfaces based on data from weather monitoring devices. Future tests envisaged focus on thermally non-conducting substrates and their influence on adhesion strength.

Keywords: ice adhesion, centrifuge, glaze ice, freezing temperature, ambient temperature

Procedia PDF Downloads 315

Authors: Simin Hosseinian, Roghieh Nooripour

Abstract:

Introduction: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a major neuropsychiatric disorder diagnosis in children, adolescents. This study was aimed to investigate the quality of life of mothers of adolescents with ADHD based on Lazarus-Folkman's coping. Method: Due to this purpose, 120 mothers were selected with convenience sampling method that referred to counseling centers with their adolescents with ADHD for treatment of their adolescents and then they completed Iranian Quality of Life Questionnaire and The Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ). Data were analyzed by the Pearson correlation and stepwise regression methods with SPSS-19. Results: The result showed that there was a positive significant relationship between quality of life and self-controlling and also a negative relationship between quality of life and accepting responsibility (p < 0.05). Conclusion: According to these findings, we can suggest suitable intervention for mothers who have adolescents with ADHD and enhance their quality of life.

Keywords: ADHD, mother, adolescent, quality of life, Lazarus-Folkman

Procedia PDF Downloads 159

Authors: Oussama Derdous, Lakhdar Djemili, Hamza Bouchahed

Abstract:

The consequences of a dam breach can be devastating; both in terms of lives lost and damaged infrastructure and property. Hydraulic modeling provides a clear picture of the possible consequences of partial or complete failure of a dam, which is the key to carry out emergency planning and conduct reliable risk assessments. In this paper, the MIKE11 model developed by the Danish Hydrologic Institute (DHI) was used to simulate the flood wave propagation associated with a potential failure analysis failure of Zardezas dam located in the city of Skikda in the North East of Algeria. MIKE11 results including inundation maps and the representative channel/valley cross-sections depicting flow depth and maximal flow velocities showed that Zardezas reservoir presents a significant risk to downstream areas in the event of a dam failure. These results can be used as the basis of the development of an Emergency Action Plan (EAP).The main objective of this plan is to predict the appropriate steps to avoid or at least decrease the consequences of unexpected failure of Zardezas dam.

Keywords: MIKE11, dam break, inundation maps, emergency action plan

Procedia PDF Downloads 439

Authors: Gulhan Sen

Abstract:

Disasters could result in many deaths and injuries. In these difficult times, accessible resources are limited, demand and supply balance is distorted, and there is a need to make urgent interventions. Disproportionateness between accessible resources and intervention capacity makes triage a necessity in every stage of disaster response. Healthcare professionals, who are in charge of triage, have to evaluate swiftly and make ethical decisions about which patients need priority and urgent intervention given the limited available resources. For such critical times in disaster triage, 'doing the greatest good for the greatest number of casualties' is adopted as a code of practice. But there is no guide for healthcare professionals about ethical decision-making during disasters, and this study is expected to use as a source in the preparation of the guide. This study aimed to examine whether the qualities healthcare professionals in Izmir related to disaster triage were adequate and whether these qualities influence their capacity to make ethical decisions. The researcher used a survey developed for data collection. The survey included two parts. In part one, 14 questions solicited information about socio-demographic characteristics and knowledge levels of the respondents on ethical principles of disaster triage and allocation of scarce resources. Part two included four disaster scenarios adopted from existing literature and respondents were asked to make ethical decisions in triage based on the provided scenarios. The survey was completed by 215 healthcare professional working in Emergency-Medical Stations, National Medical Rescue Teams and Search-Rescue-Health Teams in Izmir. The data was analyzed with SPSS software. Chi-Square Test, Mann-Whitney U Test, Kruskal-Wallis Test and Linear Regression Analysis were utilized. According to results, it was determined that 51.2% of the participants had inadequate knowledge level of ethical principles of disaster triage and allocation of scarce resources. It was also found that participants did not tend to make ethical decisions on four disaster scenarios which included ethical dilemmas. They stayed in ethical dilemmas that perform cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, manage limited resources and make decisions to die. Results also showed that participants who had more experience in disaster triage teams, were more likely to make ethical decisions on disaster triage than those with little or no experience in disaster triage teams(p < 0.01). Moreover, as their knowledge level of ethical principles of disaster triage and allocation of scarce resources increased, their tendency to make ethical decisions also increased(p < 0.001). In conclusion, having inadequate knowledge level of ethical principles and being inexperienced affect their ethical decision-making during disasters. So results of this study suggest that more training on disaster triage should be provided on the areas of the pre-impact phase of disaster. In addition, ethical dimension of disaster triage should be included in the syllabi of the ethics classes in the vocational training for healthcare professionals. Drill, simulations, and board exercises can be used to improve ethical decision making abilities of healthcare professionals. Disaster scenarios where ethical dilemmas are faced should be prepared for such applied training programs.

Keywords: disaster triage, medical ethics, ethical principles of disaster triage, ethical decision-making

Procedia PDF Downloads 229

Authors: Kamalendu Pal

Abstract:

Supply chains are the spinal cord of trade and commerce. Their logistics use different transport corridors on regular basis for operational purpose. The international supply chain transport corridors include different infrastructure elements (e.g. weighbridge, package handling equipment, border clearance authorities, and so on) in supply chains. This paper presents the use of multi-agent systems (MAS) to model and simulate some aspects of transportation corridors, and in particular the area of weighbridge resource optimization for operational profit generation purpose. An underlying multi-agent model provides a means of modeling the relationships among stakeholders in order to enable coordination in a transport corridor environment. Simulations of the costs of container unloading, reloading, and waiting time for queuing up tracks have been carried out using data sets. Results of the simulation provide the potential guidance in making decisions about optimal service resource allocation in a trade corridor.

Keywords: multi-agent systems, simulation, supply chain, transport corridor, weighbridge

Procedia PDF Downloads 339

Authors: Farzad Alaeimoghadam, Farnaz Alaeimoghadam

Abstract:

Plants are always being threatened by biotic and abiotic elements in their abode. Although they have inherited mechanisms to defend themselves, sometimes due to overpowering of their enemies or weakening of themselves, they just suffer from those elements. Human, as to help plants defend themselves, have developed several methods among which application of terpenes via plant biotechnology is promising. Terpenes are the most frequent and diverse secondary metabolites in plants. In these plants, terpenes are involved in different protective aspects. In this field, by utilizing biotechnological approaches on them, a delicate, precise, and an economic intervention will be achieved. In this review, first, the importance of terpenes as guardians in plants, which include their allelopathy effect, a call for alliances, and a mitigation impact on abiotic stresses will be pointed out. Second, problems concerning terpenes application in plant biotechnology comprising: damage to cell, undesirable terpene production and undesirable concentration and proportion of terpenes will be discussed. At the end, the approaches in plant biotechnology of terpenes including tampering with terpene gene sequences, compartmentalization, and localization and utilization of membrane transporters will be expressed. It is concluded with some useful notions concerning the topic.

Keywords: plant biotechnology, plant protection, terpenes, terpenoids

Procedia PDF Downloads 334

Authors: Craig Mahlasi

Abstract:

The Subtropical Thicket Biome has been in peril of transformation. Estimates indicate that as much as 63% of the Subtropical Thicket Biome is severely degraded. Agricultural expansion is the main driver of transformation. While several studies have sought to document and map the long term transformations, there is a lack of information on disturbance events that allow for timely intervention by authorities. Furthermore, tools that seek to perform continuous land cover change detection are often developed for forests and thus tend to perform poorly in thicket ecosystems. This study investigates the utility of Earth Observation data for continuous land cover change detection in Subtropical Thicket ecosystems. Temporal Neural Networks are implemented on a time series of Sentinel-2 observations. The model obtained 0.93 accuracy, a recall score of 0.93, and a precision score of 0.91 in detecting Thicket disturbances. The study demonstrates the potential of continuous land cover change in Subtropical Thicket ecosystems.

Keywords: remote sensing, land cover change detection, subtropical thickets, near-real time

Procedia PDF Downloads 141

Authors: D. Estrella, A. Silva, R. Zapata, H. Rubio

Abstract:

A total of 100 primary caregivers (mothers, fathers, grandparents) with at least one child or grandchild with a diagnosis of congenital bilateral profound deafness were assessed in order to evaluate the functionality of families with a deaf member, who was evaluated by specialists in audiology, molecular biology, genetics and psychology. After confirmation of the clinical diagnosis, DNA from the patients and parents were analyzed in search of the 35delG deletion of the GJB2 gene to determine who possessed the mutation. All primary caregivers were provided psychological support, regardless of whether or not they had the mutation, and prior and subsequent, the family APGAR test was applied. All parents, grandparents were informed of the results of the genetic analysis during the psychological intervention. The family APGAR, after psychological and genetic counseling, showed that 14% perceived their families as functional, 62% moderately functional and 24% dysfunctional. This shows the importance of psychological support in family functionality that has a direct impact on the quality of life of these families.

Keywords: deafness, psychological support, family, adaptation to disability

Procedia PDF Downloads 408

Authors: M. G. Nasuruddin, S. Ishak

Abstract:

This paper deals with the traditional Malay healing ritualistic ceremony known as Main Puteri. This non-invasive intervention uses the vehicle of performance to administer the healing process. It employs the performance elements of Makyung, that is, music, movements/dance, and dramatic dialogue to heal psychosomatic maladies. There are two perspectives to this therapeutic healing process, one traditional and the other scientific. From the traditional perspective, the psychosomatic illness is attributed to the infestations/possessions by malevolent spirits. To heal such patients, these spirits must be exorcised through placating them by making offerings. From the scientific perspective, the music (sonic orders), movements (kinetic energy), and smell (olfactory) connect with the brain waves to release the chemicals that would activate the internal healing energy. Currently, in Main Puteri, the therapeutic healing ritual is no longer relevant as modern clinical medicine has proven to be more effective. Thus, Main Puteri is an anachronism in today’s technologically advanced Malaysia.

Keywords: exorcism, main puteri, shamans, therapeutic healing

Procedia PDF Downloads 341

Authors: Cecilia Kunseh Betek

Abstract:

Managing rural water supply systems effectively and efficiently is a challenge in the O R Tambo District Municipality due to the long distances between consumers and municipal centres. This is a couple with the low income of most residents and the government's policy of free basic water which is making rural water provision very difficult. With regard to cartage, the results reveal that the majority (84.4%) of the population covers distances of about 1kilometre to fetch water, and 15.6% travel up kilometer to access water facilities. This means that the water sources are located very far from households, outside the officially legislated array of 200metres. These are many reasons to account for this situation. Firstly, this implies that there are inadequate stand pipes to cater for all the homesteads scattered across the rugged terrain of OR Tambo District municipality. Secondly, and following from the first explanation, it would be seen that funding that is made available is not adequate, or is not efficiently spent on the targeted projects. The situation in the rural areas of South Africa is fraught with cumbersome complexity when it comes to service delivery.

Keywords: water, management, government, rural

Procedia PDF Downloads 267

Authors: Anatoly V. Stepanov, Maria Y. Ilyushkina, Alexander S. Burnasov

Abstract:

Expansion of tourism, especially after WWII, has led to significant improvements in the regional infrastructure. The present study has revealed a lot of progress in the advancement of industrial heritage narrative in the Central Urals. The evidence comes from the general public’s increased fascination with some of Europe’s oldest mining and industrial sites, and the agreement of many stakeholders that the Urals industrial heritage should be preserved. The development of tourist sites in Nizhny Tagil and Nevyansk, gold-digging in Beryosovsky, gemstone search in Murzinka, and the progress with the Urals Gemstone Ring project are the examples showing the immense opportunities of industrial heritage tourism development in the region that are still to be realized. Regardless of the economic future of the Central Urals, whether it will remain an industrial region or experience a deeper deindustrialization, the sprouts of the industrial heritage tourism should be advanced and amplified for the benefit of local communities and the tourist community at large as it is hard to imagine a more suitable site for the discovery of industrial and mining heritage than the Central Urals Region of Russia.

Keywords: industrial heritage, mining heritage, Central Urals, Russia

Procedia PDF Downloads 113

Authors: Vikram Singh

Abstract:

The objective of the study was to study the effectiveness of common yoga protocol on reaction time (simple visual reaction time-SVRT measured in milliseconds/seconds) of male football players in the age group of 15 to 21 years. The 40 boys were randomly assigned into two groups i.e. control and experimental. SVRT for both the groups were measured on day-1 and post intervention (common yoga protocol here) was measured after 45 days of training to the experimental group only. One way ANOVA (Univariate analysis) and Independent t-test using SPSS 23 statistical package was applied to get and analyze the results. There was a significant difference after 45 days of yoga protocol in simple visual reaction time of experimental group (p = .032), t (33.05) = 3.881, p = .000 (two-tailed). Null hypothesis (that there would be no post measurement differences in reaction times of control and experimental groups) was rejected. Where p<.05. Therefore alternate hypothesis was accepted.

Keywords: footballers, t-test, yoga protocol, reaction time

Procedia PDF Downloads 242

Authors: W. H. Wan Zakiyatussariroh, A. A. Nasuhar, W. Y. Wan Fairos, Z. A. Nazatul Shahreen

Abstract:

Forecasting dengue incidence in a population can provide useful information to facilitate the planning of the public health intervention. Many studies on dengue cases in Malaysia were conducted but are limited in modeling the outbreak and forecasting incidence. This article attempts to propose the most appropriate time series model to explain the behavior of dengue incidence in Malaysia for the purpose of forecasting future dengue outbreaks. Several seasonal auto-regressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) models were developed to model Malaysia’s number of dengue incidence on weekly data collected from January 2001 to December 2011. SARIMA (2,1,1)(1,1,1)52 model was found to be the most suitable model for Malaysia’s dengue incidence with the least value of Akaike information criteria (AIC) and Bayesian information criteria (BIC) for in-sample fitting. The models further evaluate out-sample forecast accuracy using four different accuracy measures. The results indicate that SARIMA (2,1,1)(1,1,1)52 performed well for both in-sample fitting and out-sample evaluation.

Keywords: time series modeling, Box-Jenkins, SARIMA, forecasting

Procedia PDF Downloads 461

Authors: Karen Koellner, Nanette Seago, Jennifer Jacobs, Helen Garnier

Abstract:

Although studies of teacher professional development (PD) are prevalent, surprisingly most have only produced incremental shifts in teachers’ learning and their impact on students. There is a critical need to understand what teachers take up and use in their classroom practice after attending PD and why we often do not see greater changes in learning and practice. This paper is based on a mixed methods efficacy study of the Learning and Teaching Geometry (LTG) video-based mathematics professional development materials. The extent to which the materials produce a beneficial impact on teachers’ mathematics knowledge, classroom practices, and their students’ knowledge in the domain of geometry through a group-randomized experimental design are considered. In this study, we examine a small group of teachers to better understand their interpretations of the workshops and their classroom uptake. The participants included 103 secondary mathematics teachers serving grades 6-12 from two states in different regions. Randomization was conducted at the school level, with 23 schools and 49 teachers assigned to the treatment group and 18 schools and 54 teachers assigned to the comparison group. The case study examination included twelve treatment teachers. PD workshops for treatment teachers began in Summer 2016. Nine full days of professional development were offered to teachers, beginning with the one-week institute (Summer 2016) and four days of PD throughout the academic year. The same facilitator-led all of the workshops, after completing a facilitator preparation process that included a multi-faceted assessment of fidelity. The overall impact of the LTG PD program was assessed from multiple sources: two teacher content assessments, two PD embedded assessments, pre-post-post videotaped classroom observations, and student assessments. Additional data was collected from the case study teachers including additional videotaped classroom observations and interviews. Repeated measures ANOVA analyses were used to detect patterns of change in the treatment teachers’ content knowledge before and after completion of the LTG PD, relative to the comparison group. No significant effects were found across the two groups of teachers on the two teacher content assessments. Teachers were rated on the quality of their mathematics instruction captured in videotaped classroom observations using the Math in Common Observation Protocol. On average, teachers who attended the LTG PD intervention improved their ability to engage students in mathematical reasoning and to provide accurate, coherent, and well-justified mathematical content. In addition, the LTG PD intervention and instruction that engaged students in mathematical practices both positively and significantly predicted greater student knowledge gains. Teacher knowledge was not a significant predictor. Twelve treatment teachers were self-selected to serve as case study teachers to provide additional videotapes in which they felt they were using something from the PD they learned and experienced. Project staff analyzed the videos, compared them to previous videos and interviewed the teachers regarding their uptake of the PD related to content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and resources used.

Keywords: teacher learning, professional development, pedagogical content knowledge, geometry

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: Manisha Mukherjee, Diptarka Saha

Abstract:

Reliable forecasts of univariate time series data are often necessary for several contexts. ARIMA models are quite popular among practitioners in this regard. Hence, choosing correct parameter values for ARIMA is a challenging yet imperative task. Thus, a stepwise algorithm is introduced to provide automatic and robust estimates for parameters (p; d; q)(P; D; Q) used in seasonal ARIMA models. This process is focused on improvising the overall quality of the estimates, and it alleviates the problems induced due to the unidimensional nature of the methods that are currently used such as auto.arima. The fast and automated search of parameter space also ensures reliable estimates of the parameters that possess several desirable qualities, consequently, resulting in higher test accuracy especially in the cases of noisy data. After vigorous testing on real as well as simulated data, the algorithm doesn’t only perform better than current state-of-the-art methods, it also completely obviates the need for human intervention due to its automated nature.

Keywords: time series, ARIMA, auto.arima, ARIMA parameters, forecast, R function

Procedia PDF Downloads 142

Authors: Ghada S. Moussa

Abstract:

With the increase in population along with economic prosperity, an enormous increase in the number and types of vehicles on the roads occurred. This fact brings a growing need for efficiently yet effectively classifying vehicles into their corresponding categories, which play a crucial role in many areas of infrastructure planning and traffic management. This paper presents two vehicle-type classification approaches; 1) geometric-based and 2) appearance-based. The two classification approaches are used for two tasks: multi-class and intra-class vehicle classifications. For the evaluation purpose of the proposed classification approaches’ performance and the identification of the most effective yet efficient one, 10-fold cross-validation technique is used with a large dataset. The proposed approaches are distinguishable from previous research on vehicle classification in which: i) they consider both geometric and appearance attributes of vehicles, and ii) they perform remarkably well in both multi-class and intra-class vehicle classification. Experimental results exhibit promising potentials implementations of the proposed vehicle classification approaches into real-world applications.

Keywords: appearance attributes, geometric attributes, support vector machine, vehicle classification

Procedia PDF Downloads 323

Authors: P. S. Surya Meghana, K. Lingeshwaran, C. Kannan, V. Raghavendran, C. Priya

Abstract:

One of the most basic and powerful tools in all of science and medicine is the light microscope, the fundamental device for laboratory as well as research purposes. With the improving technology, the need for portable, economic and user-friendly instruments is in high demand. The conventional microscope fails to live up to the emerging trend. Also, adequate access to healthcare is not widely available, especially in developing countries. The most basic step towards the curing of a malady is the diagnosis of the disease itself. The main aim of this paper is to diagnose Malaria with the most common device, cell phones, which prove to be the immediate solution for most of the modern day needs with the development of wireless infrastructure allowing to compute and communicate on the move. This opened up the opportunity to develop novel imaging, sensing, and diagnostics platforms using mobile phones as an underlying platform to address the global demand for accurate, sensitive, cost-effective, and field-portable measurement devices for use in remote and resource-limited settings around the world.

Keywords: cellular, hand-held, health care, image processing, malarial parasites, microscope

Procedia PDF Downloads 249

Authors: Kimberly Belfry, Shavon Stafford, Fariha Chowdhury, Jennifer Crawford, Soyeon Kim

Abstract:

Intervention programs are mostly delivered online during the pandemic. Screen fatigue has become a significant deterrent for virtually-deliveredinterventions, and thus, we aimed to examine factors associated with recruitment and adherence toan online mindfulness program for youths. Our preliminary analysis indicated that 40% of interested youths enrolled in the program. No difference in gender and age was found for those enrolled in the program. Adherence rate was approximately 25%, which warrants further examination. Grounding on the preliminary findings, we will conduct a binary logistic regression analysis to identify elements associated with recruitment and adherence. The model will include predictors such as age, sex, recruiter, mental health status, time of the year. Odds ratios and 95% CI will be reported. Our preliminary analysis showed low recruitment and adherence rate. By identifying elements associated with recruitment and adherence, our study provides transferrable information that can improve recruitment and adherence of online-delivered interventions offered during the pandemic.

Keywords: virtual interventions, recruitment, youth, mindfulness

Procedia PDF Downloads 125

Authors: Fakieh Alrabai

Abstract:

This study investigated the effects on learner anxiety of anxiety-reducing strategies utilized by English as foreign language teachers in Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, sources of foreign language anxiety for Saudi learners of English (N = 596) were identified using The Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS). In the second stage, 465 learners who were divided almost equally into two groups (experimental vs. control) and 12 teachers were recruited. Anxiety-reducing strategies were implemented exclusively in the treatment group for approximately eight weeks. FLCAS was used to assess learners’ FL anxiety levels before and after treatment. Statistical analyses (e.g. ANOVA and ANCOVA) were used to evaluate the study findings. These findings revealed that the intervention led to significantly decreased levels of FL anxiety for learners in the experimental group compared with increased levels of anxiety for those in the control group.

Keywords: communication apprehension, EFL teaching/learning, fear of negative evaluation, foreign language anxiety

Procedia PDF Downloads 335

Authors: Yobo Opare-Addo

Abstract:

Ghana came under a military and democratic rule of the same leadership from 1981-2000. These were the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC), a military government and a democratic government, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) both under the leadership of Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings. Meanwhile the year 1985 marked a turning point in the development of the tourism industry in Ghana. Interest in tourism among African governments and for that matter the ‘PNDC cum NDC Government’ (PNDC/NDC) arose because of adverse developments in intangible exports and a corresponding decline in commodity export earnings. The ‘PNDC/NDC Government’ undertook measures and policies to improve the tourism industry and at the same time embarked on export diversification to reap the foreign exchange that the industry could generate in Ghana. The objective of this paper is to examine the measures and policies of the PNDC/NDC to improve the tourism industry in order to reap the foreign exchange. It specifically interrogates the role of the government as an agent of tourism development, through its deliberate creation of a conducive environment for tourism to flourish, the involvement of the private sector both foreign and local and the provision of tourism facilities and infrastructure and how these factors impacted on the tourism industry in Ghana. In the final analysis it evaluates the degree of success of the PNDC/NDC Government in this arena of Ghana’s socio-cultural and economic development. Introduction The Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC), a military government under the leadership of Flt. Lt J.J. Rawlings overthrew a constitutionally elected government of People’s National Party in 1981. In 1992, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) won the general election conducted in December. Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings, the party’s leader became the President of the Fourth Republic from January 1993 to December 2000. It was refreshing to see Ghanaians embrace democracy with renewed energy, zeal, and enthusiasm. This paper takes a critical look at the efforts of the PNDC cum NDC Government (PNDC/NDC) to develop tourism in Ghana during the period from 1981-2000 Methodology: Qualitative method of research was adopted for the study. Data was collected from both primary and secondary sources, and analysis was done using descriptive analysis because descriptive analysis made it possible to describe or summarize the statistical data in the research. To gather data from primary sources, questionnaires, oral interviews, and semi-structured discussions were conducted. Respondents included public officials from Ghana Tourist Board, Ministry of Tourism, Hoteliers, restaurant operators and travel and tour operators in Accra. Secondary data sources included articles in journals, reports, magazines, bulletins, and books. The major findings included statistical data for tourism arrivals and receipts during the period and the status of the industry by the year 2000. Conclusion: The paper contributes to knowledge on political and historical aspects of tourism development in Ghana, which is almost non-existent, attitudes of the PNDC cum NDC government towards tourism development and the debates on the generation of foreign exchange to Ghana and third world countries.

Keywords: ghana, infrastructure, policies, privatization, tourism facilities

Procedia PDF Downloads 69

Authors: Prachi Abhishek Dave, Manisha Singh

Abstract:

Purpose: The purpose is to study the microbiological profile, prognostic factors, and outcomes of surgery for microbial keratitis (MK) associated endophthalmitis. Methods: It is a retrospective analysis of 39 MK associated endophthalmitis cases which underwent combined PKP with VR surgery. Results: The majority (84.6%) of patients had a history of previous ocular surgery, cataract surgery being the most common (51.2%). Six patients had a history of trauma and 8 patients had corneal graft infection. The culture positivity rate was 92.3%. Organisms isolated were Streptococcal sp (20.5%), Pseudomonas (15.3%), Staphylococcal sp (12.8%) and Fungus (35.8%). Final visual acuities ranged from NPL to 20/120. Poor anatomic success was seen in 15(38.46%) eyes (9-phthisis, 6-eviscerated). Fungal cases had a poor success rate (P-0.02). Conclusion: MK associated endophthalmitis is a sight threatening ocular condition. Fungal etiology carries a poorer prognosis. Timely surgical intervention can achieve favourable anatomical and functional results.

Keywords: endophthalmitis, microbial keratitis, penetrating keratoplasty, vitreo retinal surgery

Procedia PDF Downloads 31

Authors: James Semmens, James Boyd, Anna Ferrante, Katrina Spilsbury, Sean Randall, Adrian Brown

Abstract:

‘Big data’ is a relatively new concept that describes data so large and complex that it exceeds the storage or computing capacity of most systems to perform timely and accurate analyses. Health services generate large amounts of data from a wide variety of sources such as administrative records, electronic health records, health insurance claims, and even smart phone health applications. Health data is viewed in Australia and internationally as highly sensitive. Strict ethical requirements must be met for the use of health data to support health research. These requirements differ markedly from those imposed on data use from industry or other government sectors and may have the impact of reducing the capacity of health data to be incorporated into the real time demands of the Big Data environment. This ‘big data revolution’ is increasingly supported by national governments, who have invested significant funds into initiatives designed to develop and capitalize on big data and methods for data integration using record linkage. The benefits to health following research using linked administrative data are recognised internationally and by the Australian Government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy Roadmap, which outlined a multi-million dollar investment strategy to develop national record linkage capabilities. This led to the establishment of the Population Health Research Network (PHRN) to coordinate and champion this initiative. The purpose of the PHRN was to establish record linkage units in all Australian states, to support the implementation of secure data delivery and remote access laboratories for researchers, and to develop the Centre for Data Linkage for the linkage of national and cross-jurisdictional data. The Centre for Data Linkage has been established within Curtin University in Western Australia; it provides essential record linkage infrastructure necessary for large-scale, cross-jurisdictional linkage of health related data in Australia and uses a best practice ‘separation principle’ to support data privacy and security. Privacy preserving record linkage technology is also being developed to link records without the use of names to overcome important legal and privacy constraint. This paper will present the findings of the first ‘Proof of Concept’ project selected to demonstrate the effectiveness of increased record linkage capacity in supporting nationally significant health research. This project explored how cross-jurisdictional linkage can inform the nature and extent of cross-border hospital use and hospital-related deaths. The technical challenges associated with national record linkage, and the extent of cross-border population movements, were explored as part of this pioneering research project. Access to person-level data linked across jurisdictions identified geographical hot spots of cross border hospital use and hospital-related deaths in Australia. This has implications for planning of health service delivery and for longitudinal follow-up studies, particularly those involving mobile populations.

Keywords: data integration, data linkage, health planning, health services research

Procedia PDF Downloads 205

Authors: Ayad Sleibi Mustafa, Ahmed Abdulkadhim Mohsin, Layth Noori Ali

Abstract:

The deterioration of solid waste management in Baghdad city is considered as a great challenge in terms of human health and environment. Baghdad city is divided into thirteen districts which are distributed on both Tigris River banks. The west bank is Al-Karkh and the east bank is Al-Rusafa. Municipal Solid Waste Management is one of the most complicated problems facing the environment in Iraq. Population growth led to increase waste production and more load of the waste to the limited capacity infrastructure. The problems of municipal solid waste become more serious after the war in 2003. More waste is disposed in underground landfills in Baghdad with little or no concern for both human health and environment. The results showed that the total annually predicted solid waste is increasing for the period 2015-2030. Municipal solid waste in 2030 will be 6,427,773 tons in Baghdad city according to the population growth rate of 2.4%. This increase is estimated to be approximately 30%.

Keywords: municipal solid waste, solid waste composition and characteristics, Baghdad city, environment, human health

Procedia PDF Downloads 275

Authors: Kanita Beširević

Abstract:

Open-source software development activities highly rely on Internet gathering communities volunteering in software development projects. Additionally, the libraries and cultural institutions share their metadata in the form of linked metadata to enable dissemination and enrichment. The open-source software provides free alternatives to traditional software solutions. The article aims to investigate the ever-increasing options for the digital library open source software adoption. The software available is presented and compared to other software solutions as well as to their previous versions. The top three open-source digital library software solutions are presented and compared. The comparison criteria are adopted from the UNESCO study by Bankier, J., & Gleason, K. Institutional Repository Software Comparison comprising of twelve criteria to appraise software, namely: infrastructure, front-end design, content discovery, publication tools, interoperability, and preservation. This article adopts a descriptive methodology based on data and information collected through selected software websites and the literature review.

Keywords: open source software, digital library, DSpace, Fedora, Greenstone

Procedia PDF Downloads 95