Search results for: digital tools
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 6372

Search results for: digital tools

3762 Selfie: Redefining Culture of Narcissism

Authors: Junali Deka

Abstract:

“Pictures speak more than a thousand words”. It is the power of image which can have multiple meanings the way it is read by the viewers. This research article is an outcome of the extensive study of the phenomenon of‘selfie culture’ and dire need of self-constructed virtual identity among youths. In the recent times, there has been a revolutionary change in the concept of photography in terms of both techniques and applications. The popularity of ‘self-portraits’ mainly depend on the temporal space and time created on social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram. With reference to Stuart’s Hall encoding and decoding process, the article studies the behavior of the users who post photographs online. The photographic messages (Roland Barthes) are interpreted differently by different viewers. The notion of ‘self’, ‘self-love and practice of looking (Marita Sturken) and ways of seeing (John Berger) got new definition and dimensional together. After Oscars Night, show host Ellen DeGeneres’s selfie created the most buzz and hype in the social media. The term was judged the word of 2013, and has earned its place in the dictionary. “In November 2013, the word "selfie" was announced as being the "word of the year" by the Oxford English Dictionary. By the end of 2012, Time magazine considered selfie one of the "top 10 buzzwords" of that year; although selfies had existed long before, it was in 2012 that the term "really hit the big time an Australian origin. The present study was carried to understand the concept of ‘selfie-bug’ and the phenomenon it has created among youth (especially students) at large in developing a pseudo-image of its own. The topic was relevant and gave a platform to discuss about the cultural, psychological and sociological implications of selfie in the age of digital technology. At the first level, content analysis of the primary and secondary sources including newspapers articles and online resources was carried out followed by a small online survey conducted with the help of questionnaire to find out the student’s view on selfie and its social and psychological effects. The newspapers reports and online resources confirmed that selfie is a new trend in the digital media and it has redefined the notion of beauty and self-love. The Facebook and Instagram are the major platforms used to express one-self and creation of virtual identity. The findings clearly reflected the active participation of female students in comparison to male students. The study of the photographs of few selected respondents revealed the difference of attitude and image building among male and female users. The study underlines some basic questions about the desire of reconstruction of identity among young generation, such as - are they becoming culturally narcissist; responsible factors for cultural, social and moral changes in the society, psychological and technological effects caused by Smartphone as well, culminating into a big question mark whether the selfie is a social signifier of identity construction.

Keywords: Culture, Narcissist, Photographs, Selfie

Procedia PDF Downloads 407
3761 Data Quality as a Pillar of Data-Driven Organizations: Exploring the Benefits of Data Mesh

Authors: Marc Bachelet, Abhijit Kumar Chatterjee, José Manuel Avila

Abstract:

Data quality is a key component of any data-driven organization. Without data quality, organizations cannot effectively make data-driven decisions, which often leads to poor business performance. Therefore, it is important for an organization to ensure that the data they use is of high quality. This is where the concept of data mesh comes in. Data mesh is an organizational and architectural decentralized approach to data management that can help organizations improve the quality of data. The concept of data mesh was first introduced in 2020. Its purpose is to decentralize data ownership, making it easier for domain experts to manage the data. This can help organizations improve data quality by reducing the reliance on centralized data teams and allowing domain experts to take charge of their data. This paper intends to discuss how a set of elements, including data mesh, are tools capable of increasing data quality. One of the key benefits of data mesh is improved metadata management. In a traditional data architecture, metadata management is typically centralized, which can lead to data silos and poor data quality. With data mesh, metadata is managed in a decentralized manner, ensuring accurate and up-to-date metadata, thereby improving data quality. Another benefit of data mesh is the clarification of roles and responsibilities. In a traditional data architecture, data teams are responsible for managing all aspects of data, which can lead to confusion and ambiguity in responsibilities. With data mesh, domain experts are responsible for managing their own data, which can help provide clarity in roles and responsibilities and improve data quality. Additionally, data mesh can also contribute to a new form of organization that is more agile and adaptable. By decentralizing data ownership, organizations can respond more quickly to changes in their business environment, which in turn can help improve overall performance by allowing better insights into business as an effect of better reports and visualization tools. Monitoring and analytics are also important aspects of data quality. With data mesh, monitoring, and analytics are decentralized, allowing domain experts to monitor and analyze their own data. This will help in identifying and addressing data quality problems in quick time, leading to improved data quality. Data culture is another major aspect of data quality. With data mesh, domain experts are encouraged to take ownership of their data, which can help create a data-driven culture within the organization. This can lead to improved data quality and better business outcomes. Finally, the paper explores the contribution of AI in the coming years. AI can help enhance data quality by automating many data-related tasks, like data cleaning and data validation. By integrating AI into data mesh, organizations can further enhance the quality of their data. The concepts mentioned above are illustrated by AEKIDEN experience feedback. AEKIDEN is an international data-driven consultancy that has successfully implemented a data mesh approach. By sharing their experience, AEKIDEN can help other organizations understand the benefits and challenges of implementing data mesh and improving data quality.

Keywords: data culture, data-driven organization, data mesh, data quality for business success

Procedia PDF Downloads 135
3760 Patterns of TV Simultaneous Interpreting of Emotive Overtones in Trump’s Victory Speech from English into Arabic

Authors: Hanan Al-Jabri

Abstract:

Simultaneous interpreting is deemed to be the most challenging mode of interpreting by many scholars. The special constraints involved in this task including time constraints, different linguistic systems, and stress pose a great challenge to most interpreters. These constraints are likely to maximise when the interpreting task is done live on TV. The TV interpreter is exposed to a wide variety of audiences with different backgrounds and needs and is mostly asked to interpret high profile tasks which raise his/her levels of stress, which further complicate the task. Under these constraints, which require fast and efficient performance, TV interpreters of four TV channels were asked to render Trump's victory speech into Arabic. However, they had also to deal with the burden of rendering English emotive overtones employed by the speaker into a whole different linguistic system. The current study aims at investigating the way TV interpreters, who worked in the simultaneous mode, handled this task; it aims at exploring and evaluating the TV interpreters’ linguistic choices and whether the original emotive effect was maintained, upgraded, downgraded or abandoned in their renditions. It also aims at exploring the possible difficulties and challenges that emerged during this process and might have influenced the interpreters’ linguistic choices. To achieve its aims, the study analysed Trump’s victory speech delivered on November 6, 2016, along with four Arabic simultaneous interpretations produced by four TV channels: Al-Jazeera, RT, CBC News, and France 24. The analysis of the study relied on two frameworks: a macro and a micro framework. The former presents an overview of the wider context of the English speech as well as an overview of the speaker and his political background to help understand the linguistic choices he made in the speech, and the latter framework investigates the linguistic tools which were employed by the speaker to stir people’s emotions. These tools were investigated based on Shamaa’s (1978) classification of emotive meaning according to their linguistic level: phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic and lexical levels. Moreover, this level investigates the patterns of rendition which were detected in the Arabic deliveries. The results of the study identified different rendition patterns in the Arabic deliveries, including parallel rendition, approximation, condensation, elaboration, transformation, expansion, generalisation, explicitation, paraphrase, and omission. The emerging patterns, as suggested by the analysis, were influenced by factors such as speedy and continuous delivery of some stretches, and highly-dense segments among other factors. The study aims to contribute to a better understanding of TV simultaneous interpreting between English and Arabic, as well as the practices of TV interpreters when rendering emotiveness especially that little is known about interpreting practices in the field of TV, particularly between Arabic and English.

Keywords: emotive overtones, interpreting strategies, political speeches, TV interpreting

Procedia PDF Downloads 159
3759 Core Number Optimization Based Scheduler to Order/Mapp Simulink Application

Authors: Asma Rebaya, Imen Amari, Kaouther Gasmi, Salem Hasnaoui

Abstract:

Over these last years, the number of cores witnessed a spectacular increase in digital signal and general use processors. Concurrently, significant researches are done to get benefit from the high degree of parallelism. Indeed, these researches are focused to provide an efficient scheduling from hardware/software systems to multicores architecture. The scheduling process consists on statically choose one core to execute one task and to specify an execution order for the application tasks. In this paper, we describe an efficient scheduler that calculates the optimal number of cores required to schedule an application, gives a heuristic scheduling solution and evaluates its cost. Our proposal results are evaluated and compared with Preesm scheduler results and we prove that ours allows better scheduling in terms of latency, computation time and number of cores.

Keywords: computation time, hardware/software system, latency, optimization, multi-cores platform, scheduling

Procedia PDF Downloads 283
3758 Smart Airport: Application of Internet of Things for Confronting Airport Challenges

Authors: Ali Safaeianpour, Nima Shamandi

Abstract:

As air traffic expands, many airports have evolved into transit centers for people, information, and commerce, and technology implementation is an absolute part of airport development. Several challenges are in the way of implementing technology in an airport. Airport 4.0 proposes the "Smart Airport" concept, which focuses on using modern technologies such as Big Data, the Internet of Things (IoT), advanced biometric systems, blockchain, and cloud computing to alter and enhance passengers' journeys. Several common IoT concrete topics as partial keys to smart airports are discussed and introduced, ranging from automated check-in systems to exterior tracking processes, with the goal of enlightening more and more insightful ideas and proposals about smart airport solutions. IoT will dramatically alter people's lives by infusing intelligence, boosting the quality of life, and assembling it smarter. This paper reviews the approaches to transforming an airport into a smart airport and describes several enabling components of IoT and challenges that can hinder the implementation of a smart airport's function, which require to be addressed.

Keywords: airport 4.0, digital airport, smart airport, IoT

Procedia PDF Downloads 113
3757 Creative Radio Advertising in Turkey

Authors: Mehmet Sinan Erguven

Abstract:

A number of authorities argue that radio is an outdated medium for advertising and does not have the same impact on consumers as it did in the past. This grim outlook on the future of radio has its basis in the audio-visual world that consumers now live in and the popularity of Internet-based marketing tools among advertising professionals. Nonetheless, consumers still appear to overwhelmingly prefer radio as an entertainment tool. Today, in Canada, 90% of all adults (18+) tune into the radio on a weekly basis, and they listen for 17 hours. Teens are the most challenging group for radio to capture as an audience, but still, almost 75% tune in weekly. One online radio station reaches more than 250 million registered listeners worldwide, and revenues from radio advertising in Australia are expected to grow at an annual rate of 3% for the foreseeable future. Radio is also starting to become popular again in Turkey, with a 5% increase in the listening rates compared to 2014. A major matter of concern always affecting radio advertising is creativity. As radio generally serves as a background medium for listeners, the creativity of the radio commercials is important in terms of attracting the attention of the listener and directing their focus on the advertising message. This cannot simply be done by using audio tools like sound effects and jingles. This study aims to identify the creative elements (execution formats appeals and approaches) and creativity factors of radio commercials in Turkey. As part of the study, all of the award winning radio commercials produced throughout the history of the Kristal Elma Advertising Festival were analyzed using the content analysis technique. Two judges (an advertising agency copywriter and an academic) coded the commercials. The reliability was measured according to the proportional agreement. The results showed that sound effects, jingles, testimonials, slices of life and announcements were the most common execution formats in creative Turkish radio ads. Humor and excitement were the most commonly used creative appeals while award-winning ads featured various approaches, such as surprise musical performances, audio wallpaper, product voice, and theater of the mind. Some ads, however, were found to not contain any creativity factors. In order to be accepted as creative, an ad must have at least one divergence factor, such as originality, flexibility, unusual/empathic perspective, and provocative questions. These findings, as well as others from the study, hold great value for the history of creative radio advertising in Turkey. Today, the nature of radio and its listeners is changing. As more and more people are tuning into online radio channels, brands will need to focus more on this relatively cheap advertising medium in the very near future. This new development will require that advertising agencies focus their attention on creativity in order to produce radio commercials for their customers that will differentiate them from their competitors.

Keywords: advertising, creativity, radio, Turkey

Procedia PDF Downloads 395
3756 Freedom with Limitations: The Nature of Free Expression in the European Case-Law

Authors: Laszlo Vari

Abstract:

In the digital age, the spread of the mobile world and the nature of the cyberspace, offers many new opportunities for the prevalence of the fundamental right to free expression, and therefore, for free speech and freedom of the press; however, these new information communication technologies carry many new challenges. Defamation, censorship, fake news, misleading information, hate speech, breach of copyright etc., are only some of the violations, all of which can be derived from the harmful exercise of freedom of expression, all which become more salient in the internet. Here raises the question: how can we eliminate these problems, and practice our fundamental freedom rightfully? To answer this question, we should understand the elements and the characteristic of the nature of freedom of expression, and the role of the actors whose duties and responsibilities are crucial in the prevalence of this fundamental freedom. To achieve this goal, this paper will explore the European practice to understand instructions found in the case-law of the European Court of Human rights for the rightful exercise of freedom of expression.

Keywords: collision of rights, European case-law, freedom opinion and expression, media law, freedom of information, online expression

Procedia PDF Downloads 139
3755 New Bio-Strategies for Ochratoxin a Detoxification Using Lactic Acid Bacteria

Authors: José Maria, Vânia Laranjo, Luís Abrunhosa, António Inês

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The occurrence of mycotoxigenic moulds such as Aspergillus, Penicillium and Fusarium in food and feed has an important impact on public health, by the appearance of acute and chronic mycotoxicoses in humans and animals, which is more severe in the developing countries due to lack of food security, poverty and malnutrition. This mould contamination also constitutes a major economic problem due the lost of crop production. A great variety of filamentous fungi is able to produce highly toxic secondary metabolites known as mycotoxins. Most of the mycotoxins are carcinogenic, mutagenic, neurotoxic and immunosuppressive, being ochratoxin A (OTA) one of the most important. OTA is toxic to animals and humans, mainly due to its nephrotoxic properties. Several approaches have been developed for decontamination of mycotoxins in foods, such as, prevention of contamination, biodegradation of mycotoxins-containing food and feed with microorganisms or enzymes and inhibition or absorption of mycotoxin content of consumed food into the digestive tract. Some group of Gram-positive bacteria named lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are able to release some molecules that can influence the mould growth, improving the shelf life of many fermented products and reducing health risks due to exposure to mycotoxins. Some LAB are capable of mycotoxin detoxification. Recently our group was the first to describe the ability of LAB strains to biodegrade OTA, more specifically, Pediococcus parvulus strains isolated from Douro wines. The pathway of this biodegradation was identified previously in other microorganisms. OTA can be degraded through the hydrolysis of the amide bond that links the L-β-phenylalanine molecule to the ochratoxin alpha (OTα) a non toxic compound. It is known that some peptidases from different origins can mediate the hydrolysis reaction like, carboxypeptidase A an enzyme from the bovine pancreas, a commercial lipase and several commercial proteases. So, we wanted to have a better understanding of this OTA degradation process when LAB are involved and identify which molecules where present in this process. For achieving our aim we used some bioinformatics tools (BLAST, CLUSTALX2, CLC Sequence Viewer 7, Finch TV). We also designed specific primers and realized gene specific PCR. The template DNA used came from LAB strains samples of our previous work, and other DNA LAB strains isolated from elderberry fruit, silage, milk and sausages. Through the employment of bioinformatics tools it was possible to identify several proteins belonging to the carboxypeptidase family that participate in the process of OTA degradation, such as serine type D-Ala-D-Ala carboxypeptidase and membrane carboxypeptidase. In conclusions, this work has identified carboxypeptidase proteins being one of the molecules present in the OTA degradation process when LAB are involved.

Keywords: carboxypeptidase, lactic acid bacteria, mycotoxins, ochratoxin a.

Procedia PDF Downloads 462
3754 Contribution for Rural Development Trough Training in Organic Farming

Authors: Raquel P. F. Guiné, Daniela V. T. A. Costa, Paula M. R. Correia, Moisés Castro, Luis T. Guerra, Cristina A. Costa

Abstract:

The aim of this work was to characterize a potential target group of people interested in participating into a training program in organic farming in the context of mobile-learning. The information sought addressed in particular, but not exclusively, possible contents, formats and forms of evaluation that will contribute to define the course objectives and curriculum, as well as to ensure that the course meets the needs of the learners and their preferences. The sample was selected among different European countries. The questionnaires were delivered electronically for answering online and in the end 135 consented valid questionnaires were obtained. The results allowed characterizing the target group and identifying their training needs and preferences towards m-learning formats, giving valuable tools to design the training offer.

Keywords: mobile-learning, organic farming, rural development, survey

Procedia PDF Downloads 502
3753 Modified RSA in Mobile Communication

Authors: Nagaratna Rajur, J. D. Mallapur, Y. B. Kirankumar

Abstract:

The security in mobile communication is very different from the internet or telecommunication, because of its poor user interface and limited processing capacity, as well as combination of complex network protocols. Hence, it poses a challenge for less memory usage and low computation speed based security system. Security involves all the activities that are undertaken to protect the value and on-going usability of assets and the integrity and continuity of operations. An effective network security strategies requires identifying threats and then choosing the most effective set of tools to combat them. Cryptography is a simple and efficient way to provide security in communication. RSA is an asymmetric key approach that is highly reliable and widely used in internet communication. However, it has not been efficiently implemented in mobile communication due its computational complexity and large memory utilization. The proposed algorithm modifies the current RSA to be useful in mobile communication by reducing its computational complexity and memory utilization.

Keywords: M-RSA, sensor networks, sensor applications, security

Procedia PDF Downloads 342
3752 Exploring the Carer Gender Support Gap: Results from Freedom of Information Requests to Adult Social Services in England

Authors: Stephen Bahooshy

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Our understanding of gender inequality has advanced in recent years. Differences in pay and societal gendered behaviour expectations have been emphasized. It is acknowledged globally that gender shapes everyone’s experiences of health and social care, including access to care, use of services and products, and the interaction with care providers. NHS Digital in England collects data from local authorities on the number of carers and people with support needs and the services they access. This data does not provide a gender breakdown. Caring can have many positive and negative impacts on carers’ health and wellbeing. For example, caring can improve physical health, provide a sense of pride and purpose, and reduced stress levels for those who undertake a caring role by choice. Negatives of caring include financial concerns, social isolation, a reduction in earnings, and not being recognized as a carer or involved and consulted by health and social care professionals. Treating male and female carers differently is by definition unequitable and precludes one gender from receiving the benefits of caring whilst potentially overburdening the other with the negatives of caring. In order to explore the issue on a preliminary basis, five local authorities who provide statutory adult social care services in England were sent Freedom of Information requests in 2019. The authorities were selected to include county councils and London boroughs. The authorities were asked to provide data on the amount of money spent on care at home packages to people over 65 years, broken down by gender and carer gender for each financial year between 2013 and 2019. Results indicated that in each financial year, female carers supporting someone over 65 years received less financial support for care at home support packages than male carers. Over the six-year period, this difference equated to a £9.5k deficit in financial support received on average per female carer when compared to male carers. An example of a London borough with the highest disparity presented an average weekly spend on care at home for people over 65 with a carer of £261.35 for male carers and £165.46 for female carers. Consequently, female carers in this borough received on average £95.89 less per week in care at home support than male carers. This highlights a real and potentially detrimental disparity in the care support received to female carers in order to support them to continue to care in parts of England. More research should be undertaken in this area to better explore this issue and to understand if these findings are unique to these social care providers or part of a wider phenomenon. NHS Digital should request local authorities collect data on gender in the same way that large employers in the United Kingdom are required by law to provide data on staff salaries by gender. People who allocate social care packages of support should consider the impact of gender when allocating support packages to people with support needs and who have carers to reduce any potential impact of gender bias on their decision-making.

Keywords: caregivers, carers, gender equality, social care

Procedia PDF Downloads 165
3751 Networked Radar System to Increase Safety of Urban Railroad Crossing

Authors: Sergio Saponara, Luca Fanucci, Riccardo Cassettari, Ruggero Piernicola, Marco Righetto

Abstract:

The paper presents an innovative networked radar system for detection of obstacles in a railway level crossing scenario. This Monitoring System (MS) is able to detect moving or still obstacles within the railway level crossing area automatically, avoiding the need of human presence for surveillance. The MS is also connected to the National Railway Information and Signaling System to communicate in real-time the level crossing status. The architecture is compliant with the highest Safety Integrity Level (SIL4) of the CENELEC standard. The number of radar sensors used is configurable at set-up time and depends on how large the level crossing area can be. At least two sensors are expected and up four can be used for larger areas. The whole processing chain that elaborates the output sensor signals, as well as the communication interface, is fully-digital, was designed in VHDL code and implemented onto a Xilinx Virtex 6.

Keywords: radar for safe mobility, railroad crossing, railway, transport safety

Procedia PDF Downloads 480
3750 Efforts to Revitalize Piipaash Language: An Explorative Study to Develop Culturally Appropriate and Contextually Relevant Teaching Materials for Preschoolers

Authors: Shahzadi Laibah Burq, Gina Scarpete Walters

Abstract:

Piipaash, representing one large family of North American languages, Yuman, is reported as one of the seriously endangered languages in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of Arizona. In a collaborative venture between Arizona State University (ASU) and Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC), efforts have been made to revitalize and preserve the Piipaash language and its cultural heritage. The present study is one example of several other language documentation and revitalization initiatives that Humanities Lab ASU has taken. This study was approved to receive a “Beyond the lab” grant after the researchers successfully created a Teaching Guide for Early Childhood Piipaash storybook during their time working in the Humanities Lab. The current research is an extension of the previous project and focuses on creating customized teaching materials and tools for the teachers and parents of the students of the Early Enrichment Program at SRPMIC. However, to determine and maximize the usefulness of the teaching materials with regards to their reliability, validity, and practicality in the given context, this research aims to conduct Environmental Analysis and Need Analysis. Environmental Analysis seeks to evaluate the Early Enrichment Program situation and Need Analysis to investigate the specific and situated requirements of the teachers to assist students in building target language skills. The study employs a qualitative methods approach for the collection of the data. Multiple data collection strategies are used concurrently to gather information from the participants. The research tools include semi-structured interviews with the program administrators and teachers, classroom observations, and teacher shadowing. The researchers utilize triangulation of the data to maintain validity in the process of data interpretation. The preliminary results of the study show a need for culturally appropriate materials that can further the learning of students of the target language as well as the culture, i.e., clay pots and basket-making materials. It was found that the course and teachers focus on developing the Listening and Speaking skills of the students. Moreover, to assist the young learners beyond the classroom, the teachers could make use of send-home teaching materials to reinforce the learning (i.e., coloring books, including illustrations of culturally relevant animals, food, and places). Audio language resources are also identified as helpful additional materials for the parents to assist the learning of the kids.

Keywords: indigenous education, materials development, need analysis, piipaash language revitalizaton

Procedia PDF Downloads 89
3749 Analysing the Benefit of Real-Time Digital Translation for ESL Learners in a Post-secondary Canadian Classroom

Authors: Jordan Shuler

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The goal of this study is to determine whether real-time language translation benefits ESL learners by contributing to overall equity in the classroom. Equity will be measured quantitatively through assessment performance and qualitatively through student survey. Two separate sections of students studying the same course will receive identical curriculum: one group, the control, will be taught in English and the other group in English with real-time translation into the students' first languages. The professor will use Microsoft Translator during lectures, in-class discussions, and Q&A time. The college is committed to finding new ways of teaching and learning, as outlined in Strategy 2022. If this research finds a positive relationship between language translation and student academic success, the technology will surely be encouraged for adoption by all George Brown College faculty. With greater acceptance, this technology could influence equity and pedagogy in the larger educational community.

Keywords: ESL learners, equity, innovative teaching strategies, language translation

Procedia PDF Downloads 120
3748 Knowledge Management in the Tourism Industry in Project Management Paradigm

Authors: Olga A. Burukina

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Tourism is a complex socio-economic phenomenon, partly regulated by national tourism industries. The sustainable development of tourism in a region, country or in tourist destination depends on a number of factors (political, economic, social, cultural, legal and technological), the understanding and correct interpretation of which is invariably anthropocentric. It is logical that for the successful functioning of a tour operating company, it is necessary to ensure its sustainable development. Sustainable tourism is defined as tourism that fully considers its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, taking into account the needs of the industry, the environment and the host communities. For the business enterprise, sustainable development is defined as adopting business strategies and activities that meet the needs of the enterprise and its stakeholders today while protecting, sustaining and enhancing the human and natural resources that will be needed in the future. In addition to a systemic approach to the analysis of tourist destinations, each tourism project can and should be considered as a system characterized by a very high degree of variability, since each particular case of its implementation differs from the previous and subsequent ones, sometimes in a cardinal way. At the same time, it is important to understand that this variability is predominantly of anthropogenic nature (except for force majeure situations that are considered separately and afterwards). Knowledge management is the process of creating, sharing, using and managing the knowledge and information of an organization. It refers to a multidisciplinary approach to achieve organisational objectives by making the best use of knowledge. Knowledge management is seen as a key systems component that allows obtaining, storing, transferring, and maintaining information and knowledge in particular, in a long-term perspective. The study aims, firstly, to identify (1) the dynamic changes in the Italian travel industry in the last 5 years before the COVID19 pandemic, which can be considered the scope of force majeure circumstances, (2) the impact of the pandemic on the industry and (3) efforts required to restore it, and secondly, how project management tools can help to improve knowledge management in tour operating companies to maintain their sustainability, diminish potential risks and restore their pre-pandemic performance level as soon as possible. The pilot research is based upon a systems approach and has employed a pilot survey, semi-structured interviews, prior research analysis (aka literature review), comparative analysis, cross-case analysis, and modelling. The results obtained are very encouraging: PM tools can improve knowledge management in tour operating companies and secure the more sustainable development of the Italian tourism industry based on proper knowledge management and risk management.

Keywords: knowledge management, project management, sustainable development, tourism industr

Procedia PDF Downloads 155
3747 Method of Visual Prosthesis Design Based on Biologically Inspired Design

Authors: Shen Jian, Hu Jie, Zhu Guo Niu, Peng Ying Hong

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There are two issues exited in the traditional visual prosthesis: lacking systematic method and the low level of humanization. To tackcle those obstacles, a visual prosthesis design method based on biologically inspired design is proposed. Firstly, a constrained FBS knowledge cell model is applied to construct the functional model of visual prosthesis in biological field. Then the clustering results of engineering domain are ob-tained with the use of the cross-domain knowledge cell clustering algorithm. Finally, a prototype system is designed to support the bio-logically inspired design where the conflict is digested by TRIZ and other tools, and the validity of the method is verified by the solution scheme

Keywords: knowledge-based engineering, visual prosthesis, biologically inspired design, biomedical engineering

Procedia PDF Downloads 192
3746 Learner-Centered E-Learning in English Language Classes in Vietnam: Teachers’ Challenges and Recommendations

Authors: Thi Chang Duyen Can

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Althoughthe COVID-19 epidemic is under control, online education technology in Vietnam will still thrive in the learner-centered trend. Most of the Vietnamese students are now ready to familiarize themselves with and access to online learning. Even in some cases, online learning, if combined with new tools, is far more effective and exciting for students than some traditional instruction. However, little research has been conducted to explore Vietnamese teachers’ difficulties in moderating learner-centered E-learning. Therefore, the study employed the mixed method (n=9) to (i) uncover the challenges faced by Vietnamese teachers in English language online classes using learner-centred approach and (ii) propose the recommendations to improve the quality of online training in universities.

Keywords: learner-centered e-learning, english language classes, teachers' challenges, online learning

Procedia PDF Downloads 85
3745 The Pioneering Model in Teaching Arabic as a Mother Tongue through Modern Innovative Strategies

Authors: Rima Abu Jaber Bransi, Rawya Jarjoura Burbara

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This study deals with two pioneering approaches in teaching Arabic as a mother tongue: first, computerization of literary and functional texts in the mother tongue; second, the pioneering model in teaching writing skills by computerization. The significance of the study lies in its treatment of a serious problem that is faced in the era of technology, which is the widening gap between the pupils and their mother tongue. The innovation in the study is that it introduces modern methods and tools and a pioneering instructional model that turns the process of mother tongue teaching into an effective, meaningful, interesting and motivating experience. In view of the Arabic language diglossia, standard Arabic and spoken Arabic, which constitutes a serious problem to the pupil in understanding unused words, and in order to bridge the gap between the pupils and their mother tongue, we resorted to computerized techniques; we took texts from the pre-Islamic period (Jahiliyya), starting with the Mu'allaqa of Imru' al-Qais and other selected functional texts and computerized them for teaching in an interesting way that saves time and effort, develops high thinking strategies, expands the literary good taste among the pupils, and gives the text added values that neither the book, the blackboard, the teacher nor the worksheets provide. On the other hand, we have developed a pioneering computerized model that aims to develop the pupil's ability to think, to provide his imagination with the elements of growth, invention and connection, and motivate him to be creative, and raise level of his scores and scholastic achievements. The model consists of four basic stages in teaching according to the following order: 1. The Preparatory stage, 2. The reading comprehension stage, 3. The writing stage, 4. The evaluation stage. Our lecture will introduce a detailed description of the model with illustrations and samples from the units that we built through highlighting some aspects of the uniqueness and innovation that are specific to this model and the different integrated tools and techniques that we developed. One of the most significant conclusions of this research is that teaching languages through the employment of new computerized strategies is very likely to get the Arabic speaking pupils out of the circle of passive reception into active and serious action and interaction. The study also emphasizes the argument that the computerized model of teaching can change the role of the pupil's mind from being a store of knowledge for a short time into a partner in producing knowledge and storing it in a coherent way that prevents its forgetfulness and keeping it in memory for a long period of time. Consequently, the learners also turn into partners in evaluation by expressing their views, giving their notes and observations, and application of the method of peer-teaching and learning.

Keywords: classical poetry, computerization, diglossia, writing skill

Procedia PDF Downloads 225
3744 Different Biological and Chemical Parameters that Influence the Polyphenols from Some Medicinal Plants in Western Algeria

Authors: Mustapha Mahmoud, Fouzia Toumi Benali, Mohamed Benyahia, Sofiane Bouazza

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This work focuses on the influences of biological and chemical parameters on the phenolic compounds such as flavonoids and tannins in different medicinal plants in western Algeria (Papaver rhoeas, Daphnegnidium, Lavandula multifida, Lavandula dentata, Lavandula stoicha, ...). Thus we look the difference between species of the same genus, difference between the different organs of the same species, the influence of environment all temperature influences, time, percentage of solvent on the extraction. Quantification of the phenolic compounds was performed by spectrophotometric method then treated with statistics tools such as variance analysis, multivariant analyzes, response surface methodology). The results show that the polyphenols are influenced by the parameters mentioned.

Keywords: polyphenols, influences, medicinal plants, west Algeria

Procedia PDF Downloads 294
3743 Finite Time Blow-Up and Global Solutions for a Semilinear Parabolic Equation with Linear Dynamical Boundary Conditions

Authors: Xu Runzhang, Yang Yanbing, Niu Yi, Zhang Mingyou, Liu Yu

Abstract:

For a class of semilinear parabolic equations with linear dynamical boundary conditions in a bounded domain, we obtain both global solutions and finite time blow-up solutions when the initial data varies in the phase space H1(Ω). Our main tools are the comparison principle, the potential well method and the concavity method. In particular, we discuss the behavior of the solutions with the initial data at critical and high energy level.

Keywords: high energy level, critical energy level, linear dynamical boundary condition, semilinear parabolic equation

Procedia PDF Downloads 436
3742 Geometric Calibration of Computed Tomography Equipment

Authors: Chia-Hung Liao, Shih-Chieh Lin

Abstract:

X-ray computed tomography (CT) technology has been used in the electronics industry as one of the non-destructive inspection tools for years. The key advantage of X-ray computed tomography technology superior to traditional optical inspection is the penetrating characteristics of X-rays can be used to detect defects in the interior of objects. The objective of this study is to find a way to estimate the system geometric deviation of X-ray CT equipment. Projection trajectories of the characteristic points of standard parts were tracked, and ways to calculate the deviation of various geometric parameters of the system will be proposed and evaluated. A simulation study will be conducted to first find out the effects of system geometric deviation on projected trajectories. Then ways to estimate geometric deviation with collected trajectories will be proposed and tested through simulations.

Keywords: geometric calibration, X-ray computed tomography, trajectory tracing, reconstruction optimization

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3741 A Resource Based View: Perspective on Acquired Human Resource towards Competitive Advantage

Authors: Monia Hassan Abdulrahman

Abstract:

Resource-based view is built on many theories in addition to diverse perspectives, we extend this view placing emphasis on human resources addressing the tools required to sustain competitive advantage. Highlighting on several theories and judgments, assumptions were established to clearly reach if resource possession alone suffices for the sustainability of competitive advantage, or necessary accommodation are required for better performance. New practices were indicated in terms of resources used in firms, these practices were implemented on the human resources in particular, and results were developed in compliance to the mentioned assumptions. Such results drew attention to the significance of practices that provide enhancement of human resources that have a core responsibility of maintaining resource-based view for an organization to lead the way to gaining competitive advantage.

Keywords: competitive advantage, resource based value, human resources, strategic management

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3740 Multidisciplinary Approach to Diagnosis of Primary Progressive Aphasia in a Younger Middle Aged Patient

Authors: Robert Krause

Abstract:

Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a neurodegenerative disease similar to frontotemporal and semantic dementia, while having a different clinical image and anatomic pathology topography. Nonetheless, they are often included under an umbrella term: frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). In the study, examples of diagnosing PPA are presented through the multidisciplinary lens of specialists from different fields (neurologists, psychiatrists, clinical speech therapists, clinical neuropsychologists and others) using a variety of diagnostic tools such as MR, PET/CT, genetic screening and neuropsychological and logopedic methods. Thanks to that, specialists can get a better and clearer understanding of PPA diagnosis. The study summarizes the concrete procedures and results of different specialists while diagnosing PPA in a patient of younger middle age and illustrates the importance of multidisciplinary approach to differential diagnosis of PPA.

Keywords: primary progressive aphasia, etiology, diagnosis, younger middle age

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3739 Exploring the Use of Schoolgrounds for the Integration of Environmental and Sustainability Education in Natural and Social Sciences Pedagogy: A Case Study

Authors: Headman Hebe, Arnold Taringa

Abstract:

Background of the study: The benefits derived from Environmental and Sustainability Education (ESE) go beyond obtaining knowledge about the environment and the impact of human beings on the environment. Hence, it is sensible to expose learners to various resources that could enable meaningful environment-inclined pedagogy. The schoolgrounds, where they are utilised to promote ESE, benefit holistic learner development. However, empirical evidence, globally, suggests that young children’s contact with nature is declining due to urbanization, safety concerns by parents/guardians, and greater dependency on technology. Modern children spend much time on videogames and social media with very little time in the natural environment. Furthermore, national education departments in numerous countries have made tangible efforts to embed environmental and place-based learning to their school curricula. South Africa is one of those countries whose national school education curriculum advocates for ESE in pedagogy. Nevertheless, there is paucity of research conducted in South Africa on schoolgrounds as potential enablers of ESE and tools to foster a connection between youngsters and the natural environment. Accordingly, this study was essential as it seeks to determine the extent to which environmental learning is accommodated in pedagogy. Significantly, it investigates efforts made to use schoolgrounds for pedagogical purposes to connect children with the natural environment. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the accessibility and use of schoolgrounds for environment-inclined pedagogy in Natural and Social Sciences in two schools located in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. It tries to answer the question: To what extent are schoolgrounds used to promote environmental and sustainability education in the selected schools?The sub-questions: How do teachers and learners perceive the use of schoolgrounds for environmental and sustainability education activities? How does the organization of schoolgrounds offer opportunities for environmental education activities and accessibility for learners? Research method: This qualitative–interpretive case study used purposive and convenient sampling for participant selection. Forty-six respondents: 40 learners (twenty grade 7 learners per school), 2 school principals and 4 grade 7 participated in this study. Data collection tools were observations, interviews, audio-visual recordings and questionnaires while data analysis was done thematically. Major findings: The findings of the study point to: The lack of teacher training and infrastructure in the schoolgrounds and, no administrative support. Unclear curriculum guidelines on the use of schoolgrounds for ESE. The availability various elements in the schoolgrounds that could aid ESE activities. Learners denied access to certain parts of the schoolgrounds. Lack of time and curriculum demands constrain teachers from using schoolgrounds.

Keywords: affordances, environment and sustainability education, experiential learning, schoolgrounds

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3738 Heterogeneous Artifacts Construction for Software Evolution Control

Authors: Mounir Zekkaoui, Abdelhadi Fennan

Abstract:

The software evolution control requires a deep understanding of the changes and their impact on different system heterogeneous artifacts. And an understanding of descriptive knowledge of the developed software artifacts is a prerequisite condition for the success of the evolutionary process. The implementation of an evolutionary process is to make changes more or less important to many heterogeneous software artifacts such as source code, analysis and design models, unit testing, XML deployment descriptors, user guides, and others. These changes can be a source of degradation in functional, qualitative or behavioral terms of modified software. Hence the need for a unified approach for extraction and representation of different heterogeneous artifacts in order to ensure a unified and detailed description of heterogeneous software artifacts, exploitable by several software tools and allowing to responsible for the evolution of carry out the reasoning change concerned.

Keywords: heterogeneous software artifacts, software evolution control, unified approach, meta model, software architecture

Procedia PDF Downloads 445
3737 Generative AI in Higher Education: Pedagogical and Ethical Guidelines for Implementation

Authors: Judit Vilarmau

Abstract:

Generative AI is emerging rapidly and transforming higher education in many ways, occasioning new challenges and disrupting traditional models and methods. The studies and authors explored remark on the impact on the ethics, curriculum, and pedagogical methods. Students are increasingly using generative AI for study, as a virtual tutor, and as a resource for generating works and doing assignments. This point is crucial for educators to make sure that students are using generative AI with ethical considerations. Generative AI also has relevant benefits for educators and can help them personalize learning experiences and promote self-regulation. Educators must seek and explore tools like ChatGPT to innovate without forgetting an ethical and pedagogical perspective. Eighteen studies were systematically reviewed, and the findings provide implementation guidelines with pedagogical and ethical considerations.

Keywords: ethics, generative artificial intelligence, guidelines, higher education, pedagogy

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3736 An Explorative Study of the Application of Project Management in German Research Projects

Authors: Marcel Randermann, Roland Jochem

Abstract:

Research activities are mostly conducted in form of projects. In fact, research projects take the highest share of all project forms combined. However, project management is very rarely applied purposefully by researchers and scientists. More specifically no project management frameworks, methods or tools are not being used to plan, execute or control research project to ensure research success or improve project quality. In this qualitative study, several interviews were conducted with scientists and research managers from German institutions to gain insights into project management activities, to determine challenges and barriers, and to evaluate premises for successful project management. The analyses show that conventional project management is not easily applicable in scientific environments and researchers’ mindsets prevent a reasonable application.

Keywords: academics, project management methods, research and science projects, scientist's mindset

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3735 Development of a Green Star Certification Tool for Existing Buildings in South Africa

Authors: Bouwer Kleynhans

Abstract:

The built environment is responsible for about 40% of the world’s energy consumption and generates one third of global carbon dioxide emissions. The Green Building Council of South Africa’s (GBCSA) current rating tools are all for new buildings. By far the largest portion of buildings exist stock and therefore the need to develop a certification tool for existing buildings. Direct energy measurement comprises 27% of the total available points in this tool. The aim of this paper is to describe the development process of a green star certification tool for existing buildings in South Africa with specific emphasis on the energy measurement criteria. Successful implementation of this tool within the property market will ensure a reduced carbon footprint of buildings.

Keywords: certification tool, development process, energy consumption, green buildings

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3734 Differential Antibrucella Activity of Bovine and Murine Macrophages

Authors: Raheela Akhtar, Zafar Iqbal Chaudhary, Yongqun Oliver He, Muhammad Younus, Aftab Ahmad Anjum

Abstract:

Brucella abortus is an intracellular pathogen affecting macrophages. Macrophages release some components such as lysozymes (LZ), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrite intermediates (RNI) which are important tools against intracellular survival of Brucella. The antibrucella activity of bovine and murine macrophages was compared following stimulation with Brucella abortus lipopolysaccharides. Our results revealed that murine macrophages were ten times more potent to produce antibrucella components than bovine macrophages. The differential production of these components explained the differential Brucella killing ability of these species that was measured in terms of intramacrophagic survival of Brucella in murine and bovine macrophages.

Keywords: bovine macrophages, Brucella abortus, cell stimulation, cytokines, Murine macrophages

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3733 Audio Information Retrieval in Mobile Environment with Fast Audio Classifier

Authors: Bruno T. Gomes, José A. Menezes, Giordano Cabral

Abstract:

With the popularity of smartphones, mobile apps emerge to meet the diverse needs, however the resources at the disposal are limited, either by the hardware, due to the low computing power, or the software, that does not have the same robustness of desktop environment. For example, in automatic audio classification (AC) tasks, musical information retrieval (MIR) subarea, is required a fast processing and a good success rate. However the mobile platform has limited computing power and the best AC tools are only available for desktop. To solve these problems the fast classifier suits, to mobile environments, the most widespread MIR technologies, seeking a balance in terms of speed and robustness. At the end we found that it is possible to enjoy the best of MIR for mobile environments. This paper presents the results obtained and the difficulties encountered.

Keywords: audio classification, audio extraction, environment mobile, musical information retrieval

Procedia PDF Downloads 545