Search results for: knowledge structure
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 14097

Search results for: knowledge structure

13737 Optimizing Design Works in Construction Consultant Company: A Knowledge-Based Application

Authors: Phan Nghiem Vu, Le Tuan Vu, Ta Quang Tai

Abstract:

The optimal construction design used during the execution of a construction project is a key factor in determining high productivity and customer satisfaction, however, this management process sometimes is carried out without care and the systematic method that it deserves, bringing negative consequences. This study proposes a knowledge management (KM) approach that will enable the intelligent use of experienced and acknowledged engineers to improve the management of construction design works for a project. Then a knowledge-based application to support this decision-making process is proposed and described. To define and design the system for the application, semi-structured interviews were conducted within five construction consulting organizations with the purpose of studying the way that the method’ optimizing process is implemented in practice and the knowledge supported with it. A system of an optimizing construction design works (OCDW) based on knowledge was developed then validated with construction experts. The OCDW was liked as a valuable tool for construction design works’ optimization, by supporting organizations to generate a corporate memory on this issue, reducing the reliance on individual knowledge and also the subjectivity of the decision-making process. The benefits are described as provided by the performance support system, reducing costs and time, improving product design quality, satisfying customer requirements, expanding the brand organization.

Keywords: optimizing construction design work, construction consultant organization, knowledge management, knowledge-based application

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13736 The Sexual Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors of College Students from Only-Child Families: A National Survey in China

Authors: Jiashu Shen

Abstract:

This study aims at exploring the characteristics of sexual knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of Chinese college students from the 'one-child' families compared with those with siblings. This study utilized the data from the 'National College Student Survey on Sexual and Reproductive Health 2019'. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to assess the association between the 'only-child' and their sexual knowledge, sexual attitudes, sexual behaviors, and risky sexual behaviors (RSB) stratified by sex and home regions, respectively. Compared with students with siblings, the 'only-child' students scored higher in sex-related knowledge (only-child students: 4.49 ± 2.28, students with siblings: 3.60 ± 2.27). Stronger associations between only-child and more liberal sexual attitudes were found in urban areas, including the approval of premarital sexual intercourse (OR: 1.51, 95% CI: 1.50-1.65) and multiple sexual partners (OR: 1.85, 95% CI: 1.72-1.99). For risky sexual behaviors, being only-child is more likely to use condoms in first sexual intercourse, especially among male students (OR: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.58-0.80). Only-child students are more likely to have more sexual knowledge, more liberal sexual attitude, and less risky sexual behavior. Further health policy and sex education should focus more on students with siblings.

Keywords: attitudes and behaviors, only-child students, sexual knowledge, students with siblings

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13735 Submicron Size of Alumina/Titania Tubes for CO2-CH4 Conversion

Authors: Chien-Wan Hun, Shao-Fu Chang, Jheng-En Yang, Chien-Chon Chen, Wern-Dare Jheng

Abstract:

This research provides a systematic way to study and better understand double nano-tubular structure of alunina (Al2O3) and titania (TiO2). The TiO2 NT was prepared by immersing Al2O3 template in 0.02 M titanium fluoride (TiF4) solution (pH=3) at 25 °C for 120 min, followed by annealing at 450 °C for 1 h to obtain anatase TiO2 NT in the Al2O3 template. Large-scale development of film for nanotube-based CO2 capture and conversion can potentially result in more efficient energy harvesting. In addition, the production process will be relatively environmentally friendly. The knowledge generated by this research will significantly advance research in the area of Al2O3, TiO2, CaO, and Ca2O3 nano-structure film fabrication and applications for CO2 capture and conversion. This green energy source will potentially reduce reliance on carbon-based energy resources and increase interest in science and engineering careers.

Keywords: alumina, titania, nano-tubular, film, CO2

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13734 Knowledge Sharing Behavior and Cognitive Dissonance: The Influence of Assertive Conflict Management Strategy and Team Psychological Safety

Authors: Matthew P. Mancini, Vincent Ribiere

Abstract:

Today’s workers face more numerous and complex challenges and are required to be increasingly interdependent and faster learners. Knowledge sharing activities between people have been understood as a significant element affecting organizational innovation performance. While they do have the potential to spark cognitive conflict, disagreement is important from an organizational perspective because it can stimulate the development of new ideas and perhaps pave the way for creativity, innovation, and competitive advantage. How teams cope with the cognitive conflict dimension of knowledge sharing and the associated interpersonal risk is what captures our attention. Specifically, assertive conflict management strategies have a positive influence on knowledge sharing behaviors, and team psychological safety has a positive influence on knowledge sharing intention. This paper focuses on explaining the impact that these factors have on the shaping of an individual’s decision to engage or not in knowledge sharing activities. To accomplish this, we performed an empirical analysis on the results of our questionnaire about knowledge-sharing related conflict management and team psychological safety in pharmaceutical enterprises located in North America, Europe, and Asia. First, univariate analysis is used to characterize behavior regarding conflict management strategy into two groups. Group 1 presents assertive conflict management strategies and group 2 shows unassertive ones. Then, by using SEM methodology, we evaluated the relationships between them and the team psychological safety construct with the knowledge sharing process. The results of the SEM analysis show that assertive conflict management strategies affect the knowledge sharing process the most with a small, but significant effect from team psychological safety. The findings suggest that assertive conflict management strategies are just as important as knowledge sharing intentions for encouraging knowledge sharing behavior. This paper provides clear insights into how employees manage the sharing of their knowledge in the face of conflict and interpersonal risk and the relative importance of these factors in sustaining productive knowledge sharing activities.

Keywords: cognitive dissonance, conflict management, knowledge sharing, organizational behavior, psychological safety

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13733 A Case Study of Assessment of Fire Affected Concrete Structure by NDT

Authors: Nikhil Gopalkrishnan, Praveen Bhaskaran, Aditya Bhargava, Gyandeep Bhumarkar

Abstract:

The present paper is an attempt to perform various Non-Destructive Tests on concrete structure as NDT is gaining a wide importance in the branch of civil engineering these days. Various tests that are performed under NDT not only enable us to determine the strength of concrete structure, but also provide us in-hand information regarding the durability, in-situ properties of the concrete structure. Keeping these points in our mind, we have focused our views on performing a case study to show the comparison between the NDT test results performed on a particular concrete structure and another structure at the same site which is subjected to a continuous fire of say 48-72 hours. The mix design and concrete grade of both the structures were same before the one was affected by fire. The variations in the compressive strength, concrete quality and in-situ properties of the two structures have been discussed in this paper. NDT tests namely Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity Test, Rebound Hammer Test, Core-Cutter Test was performed at both the sites. The main objective of this research is to analyze the variations in the strength and quality of the concrete structure which is subjected to a high temperature fire and the one which isn’t exposed to it.

Keywords: core-cutter test, non-destructive test, rebound hammer test, ultrasonic pulse velocity test

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13732 Transfer Learning for Protein Structure Classification at Low Resolution

Authors: Alexander Hudson, Shaogang Gong

Abstract:

Structure determination is key to understanding protein function at a molecular level. Whilst significant advances have been made in predicting structure and function from amino acid sequence, researchers must still rely on expensive, time-consuming analytical methods to visualise detailed protein conformation. In this study, we demonstrate that it is possible to make accurate (≥80%) predictions of protein class and architecture from structures determined at low (>3A) resolution, using a deep convolutional neural network trained on high-resolution (≤3A) structures represented as 2D matrices. Thus, we provide proof of concept for high-speed, low-cost protein structure classification at low resolution, and a basis for extension to prediction of function. We investigate the impact of the input representation on classification performance, showing that side-chain information may not be necessary for fine-grained structure predictions. Finally, we confirm that high resolution, low-resolution and NMR-determined structures inhabit a common feature space, and thus provide a theoretical foundation for boosting with single-image super-resolution.

Keywords: transfer learning, protein distance maps, protein structure classification, neural networks

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13731 Knowledge Management Processes as a Driver of Knowledge-Worker Performance in Public Health Sector of Pakistan

Authors: Shahid Razzaq

Abstract:

The governments around the globe have started taking into considerations the knowledge management dynamics while formulating, implementing, and evaluating the strategies, with or without the conscious realization, for the different public sector organizations and public policy developments. Health Department of Punjab province in Pakistan is striving to deliver quality healthcare services to the community through an efficient and effective service delivery system. Despite of this struggle some employee performance issues yet exists in the form of challenge to government. To overcome these issues department took several steps including HR strategies, use of technologies and focus of hard issues. Consequently, this study was attempted to highlight the importance of soft issue that is knowledge management in its true essence to tackle their performance issues. Knowledge management in public sector is quite an ignored area in the knowledge management-a growing multidisciplinary research discipline. Knowledge-based view of the firm theory asserts the knowledge is the most deliberate resource that can result in competitive advantage for an organization over the other competing organizations. In the context of our study it means for gaining employee performance, organizations have to increase the heterogeneous knowledge bases. The study uses the cross-sectional and quantitative research design. The data is collected from the knowledge workers of Health Department of Punjab, the biggest province of Pakistan. A total of 341 sample size is achieved. The SmartPLS 3 Version 2.6 is used for analyzing the data. The data examination revealed that knowledge management processes has a strong impact on knowledge worker performance. All hypotheses are accepted according to the results. Therefore, it can be summed up that to increase the employee performance knowledge management activities should be implemented. Health Department within province of Punjab introduces the knowledge management infrastructure and systems to make effective availability of knowledge for the service staff. This knowledge management infrastructure resulted in an increase in the knowledge management process in different remote hospitals, basic health units and care centers which resulted in greater service provisions to public. This study is to have theoretical and practical significances. In terms of theoretical contribution, this study is to establish the relationship between knowledge management and performance for the first time. In case of the practical contribution, this study is to give an insight to public sector organizations and government about role of knowledge management in employ performance. Therefore, public policymakers are strongly advised to implement the activities of knowledge management for enhancing the performance of knowledge workers. The current research validated the substantial role of knowledge management in persuading and creating employee arrogances and behavioral objectives. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this study contribute to the impact of knowledge management on employee performance as its originality.

Keywords: employee performance, knowledge management, public sector, soft issues

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13730 Development of a Hamster Knowledge System Based on Android Application

Authors: Satien Janpla, Thanawan Boonpuck, Pattarapan Roonrakwit

Abstract:

In this paper, we present a hamster knowledge system based on android application. The objective of this system is to advice user to upkeep and feed hamsters based on mobile application. We describe the design approaches and functional components of this system. The system was developed based on knowledge based of hamster experts. The results were divided by the research purposes into 2 parts: developing the mobile application for advice users and testing and evaluating the system. Black box technique was used to evaluate application performances and questionnaires were applied to measure user satisfaction with system usability by specialists and users.

Keywords: hamster knowledge, Android application, black box, questionnaires

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13729 Proposing an Index for Determining Key Knowledge Management Processes in Decision Making Units Using Fuzzy Quality Function Deployment (QFD), Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) Method

Authors: Sadegh Abedi, Ali Yaghoubi, Hamidreza Mashatzadegan

Abstract:

This paper proposes an approach to identify key processes required by an organization in the field of knowledge management and aligning them with organizational objectives. For this purpose, first, organization’s most important non-financial objectives which are impacted by knowledge management processes are identified and then, using a quality house, are linked with knowledge management processes which are regarded as technical elements. Using this method, processes that are in need of improvement and more attention are prioritized based on their significance. This means that if a process has more influence on organization’s objectives and is in a dire situation comparing to others, is prioritized for choice and improvement. In this research process dominance is considered to be an influential element in process ranking (in addition to communication matrix). This is the reason for utilizing DEA techniques for prioritizing processes in quality house. Results of implementing the method in Khuzestan steel company represents this method’s capability of identifying key processes that require improvements in organization’s knowledge management system.

Keywords: knowledge management, organizational performance, fuzzy data, envelopment analysis

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13728 Sense Environmental Hormones in Elementary School Teachers and Their in Service Learning Motivation

Authors: Fu-Chi Chuang, Yu-Liang, Chang, Wen-Der Wang

Abstract:

Our environment has been contaminated by many artificial chemicals, such as plastics, pesticides. Many of them have hormone-like activity and are classified as 'environmental hormone (also named endocrine disruptors)'. These chemicals interfere with or mimic hormones have adverse effects that persist into adulthood. Environmental education is an important way to teach students to become engaged in real-world issues that transcend classroom walls. Elementary education is the first stage to perform environmental education and it is an important component to help students develop adequate environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. However, elementary teachers' knowledge plays a critical role in this mission. Therefore, we use a questionnaire to survey the knowledge of environmental hormone of elementary school teachers and their learning motivation of the environmental hormone-regarding knowledge. We collected 218 questionnaires from Taiwanese elementary teachers and the results indicate around 73% of elementary teachers do not have enough knowledge about environmental hormones. Our results also reveal the in-service elementary teachers’ learning motivation of environmental hormones knowledge is positively enhanced once they realized their insufficient cognitive ability of environmental hormones. We believe our study will provide the powerful reference for Ministry of Education to set up the policy of environmental education to enrich all citizens sufficient knowledge of the effects of the environmental hormone on organisms, and further to enhance our correct environmental behaviors.

Keywords: elementary teacher, environmental hormones, learning motivation, questionnaire

Procedia PDF Downloads 287
13727 Non-Linear Static Pushover Analysis of 15 Storied Reinforced Concrete Building Structure with Shear Wall

Authors: Hamid Nikzad, Shinta Yoshitomi

Abstract:

In this paper, nonlinear static pushover analysis is performed on 15 storied RC building structure with a shear wall to evaluate the seismic performance of the building. Section sizes of the members are obtained based on structural optimization method utilizing MATLAB frame optimizer, then the structure is simulated and designed in ETABS program conforming ACI 318-14 design code. The pushover curve has been generated by pushing the top node of the structure to the limited target displacement. Members failure due to the formation of plastic hinges, considering shear wall-frame structure was observed and the result of this study is presented based on current regulation of FEMA356, ASCE7-10, and ACI 318-14 design criteria

Keywords: structural optimization, linear static analysis, ETABS, MATLAB, RC moment frame, RC shear wall structures

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13726 Hotel and Service Industry in USA: Is It Leveraged? Case Study of Seven Important Hotel Chains

Authors: Azadeh Shahbazi

Abstract:

This study tries to find out the determinants of capital structure in hotel industry in 7 important hotel chains in USA within the period of 12 years of 2000 to 2012. The study is used a panel pooled regression to realize the relation among different variables. Results show that the variables which could make changes in the capital structure of firms are Non-Debt Tax Shield and Tangibility.

Keywords: capital structure, service industry, hospitality, finance

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13725 Development of Management System of the Experience of Defensive Modeling and Simulation by Data Mining Approach

Authors: D. Nam Kim, D. Jin Kim, Jeonghwan Jeon

Abstract:

Defense Defensive Modeling and Simulation (M&S) is a system which enables impracticable training for reducing constraints of time, space and financial resources. The necessity of defensive M&S has been increasing not only for education and training but also virtual fight. Soldiers who are using defensive M&S for education and training will obtain empirical knowledge and know-how. However, the obtained knowledge of individual soldiers have not been managed and utilized yet since the nature of military organizations: confidentiality and frequent change of members. Therefore, this study aims to develop a management system for the experience of defensive M&S based on data mining approach. Since individual empirical knowledge gained through using the defensive M&S is both quantitative and qualitative data, data mining approach is appropriate for dealing with individual empirical knowledge. This research is expected to be helpful for soldiers and military policy makers.

Keywords: data mining, defensive m&s, management system, knowledge management

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13724 The Value of Traditional Ecological Knowledge in a Globalised World: A Case Study from the Peruvian Amazon

Authors: Anna Juliet Stephens

Abstract:

This research emphasises the importance of incorporating traditional ecological knowledge into Peru’s development plans, as a way to manage some of the more adverse impacts of globalisation which continue to impinge on one of the world’s most biodiverse regions. In doing so, it argues for a development strategy to be implemented in the Peruvian Amazon which prioritises local and indigenous rights, needs and perspectives.

Keywords: traditional ecological knowledge, peruvian amazon, globalisation, indigenous, development

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13723 Single-Element Simulations of Wood Material in LS-DYNA

Authors: Ren Zuo Wang

Abstract:

In this paper, in order to investigate the behavior of the wood structure, the non-linearity of wood material model in LS-DYNA is adopted. It is difficult and less efficient to conduct the experiment of the ancient wood structure, hence LS-DYNA software can be used to simulate nonlinear responses of ancient wood structure. In LS-DYNA software, there is material model called *MAT_WOOD or *MAT_143. This model is to simulate a single-element response of the wood subjected to tension and compression under the parallel and the perpendicular material directions. Comparing with the exact solution and numerical simulations results using LS-DYNA, it demonstrates the accuracy and the efficiency of the proposed simulation method.

Keywords: LS-DYNA, wood structure, single-element simulations, MAT_143

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13722 Knowledge Transfer and the Translation of Technical Texts

Authors: Ahmed Alaoui

Abstract:

This paper contributes to the ongoing debate as to the relevance of translation studies to professional practitioners. It exposes the various misconceptions permeating the links between theory and practice in the translation landscape in the Arab World. It is a thesis of this paper that specialization in translation should be redefined; taking account of the fact, that specialized knowledge alone is neither crucial nor sufficient in technical translation. It should be tested against the readability of the translated text, the appropriateness of its style and the usability of its content by end-users to carry out their intended tasks. The paper also proposes a preliminary model to establish a working link between theory and practice from the perspective of professional trainers and practitioners, calling for the latter to participate in the production of knowledge in a systematic fashion. While this proposal is driven by a rather intuitive conviction, a research line is needed to specify the methodological moves to establish the mediation strategies that would relate the components in the model of knowledge transfer proposed in this paper.

Keywords: knowledge transfer, misconceptions, specialized texts, translation theory, translation practice

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13721 Applying the Fuzzy Analytic Network Process to Establish the Relative Importance of Knowledge Sharing Barriers

Authors: Van Dong Phung, Igor Hawryszkiewycz, Kyeong Kang, Muhammad Hatim Binsawad

Abstract:

Knowledge sharing (KS) is the key to creativity and innovation in any organizations. Overcoming the KS barriers has created new challenges for designing in dynamic and complex environment. There may be interrelations and interdependences among the barriers. The purpose of this paper is to present a review of literature of KS barriers and impute the relative importance of them through the fuzzy analytic network process that is a generalization of the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). It helps to prioritize the barriers to find ways to remove them to facilitate KS. The study begins with a brief description of KS barriers and the most critical ones. The FANP and its role in identifying the relative importance of KS barriers are explained. The paper, then, proposes the model for research and expected outcomes. The study suggests that the use of the FANP is appropriate to impute the relative importance of KS barriers which are intertwined and interdependent. Implications and future research are also proposed.

Keywords: FANP, ANP, knowledge sharing barriers, knowledge sharing, removing barriers, knowledge management

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13720 Organizational Learning Strategies for Building Organizational Resilience

Authors: Stephanie K. Douglas, Gordon R. Haley

Abstract:

Organizations face increasing disruptions, changes, and uncertainties through the rapid shifts in the economy and business environment. A capacity for resilience is necessary for organizations to survive and thrive in such adverse conditions. Learning is an essential component of an organization's capability for building resilience. Strategic human resource management is a principal component of learning and organizational resilience. To achieve organizational resilience, human resource management strategies must support individual knowledge, skills, and ability development through organizational learning. This study aimed to contribute to the comprehensive knowledge of the relationship between strategic human resource management and organizational learning to build organizational resilience. The organizational learning dimensions of knowledge acquisition, knowledge distribution, knowledge interpretation, and organizational memory can be fostered through human resource management strategies and then aggregated to the organizational level to build resilience.

Keywords: human resource development, human resource management, organizational learning, organizational resilience

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13719 Knowledge Integration from Concept to Practice: An Exploratory Study of Designing a Flood Resilient Urban Park in Viet Nam

Authors: To Quyen Le, Oswald Devisch, Tu Anh Trinh, Els Hannes

Abstract:

Urban centres worldwide are affected differently by flooding. In Vietnam this impact is increasingly negative caused by a process of rapid urbanisation. Traditional spatial planning and flood mitigation planning are not able to deal with this growing threat. This article therefore proposes to focus on increasing the participation of local communities in flood control and management. It explores, on the basis of a design studio exercise, how lay knowledge on flooding can be integrated within planning processes. The article presents a theoretical basis for the structured criterion for site selection for a flood resilient urban park from the perspective of science, then discloses the tacit and explicit knowledge of the flood-prone area and finally integrates this knowledge into the design strategies for flood resilient urban park design.

Keywords: analytic hierarchy process, AHP, design resilience, flood resilient urban park, knowledge integration

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13718 A Web-Based Self-Learning Grammar for Spoken Language Understanding

Authors: S. Biondi, V. Catania, R. Di Natale, A. R. Intilisano, D. Panno

Abstract:

One of the major goals of Spoken Dialog Systems (SDS) is to understand what the user utters. In the SDS domain, the Spoken Language Understanding (SLU) Module classifies user utterances by means of a pre-definite conceptual knowledge. The SLU module is able to recognize only the meaning previously included in its knowledge base. Due the vastity of that knowledge, the information storing is a very expensive process. Updating and managing the knowledge base are time-consuming and error-prone processes because of the rapidly growing number of entities like proper nouns and domain-specific nouns. This paper proposes a solution to the problem of Name Entity Recognition (NER) applied to a SDS domain. The proposed solution attempts to automatically recognize the meaning associated with an utterance by using the PANKOW (Pattern based Annotation through Knowledge On the Web) method at runtime. The method being proposed extracts information from the Web to increase the SLU knowledge module and reduces the development effort. In particular, the Google Search Engine is used to extract information from the Facebook social network.

Keywords: spoken dialog system, spoken language understanding, web semantic, name entity recognition

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13717 Generalized π-Armendariz Authentication Cryptosystem

Authors: Areej M. Abduldaim, Nadia M. G. Al-Saidi

Abstract:

Algebra is one of the important fields of mathematics. It concerns with the study and manipulation of mathematical symbols. It also concerns with the study of abstractions such as groups, rings, and fields. Due to the development of these abstractions, it is extended to consider other structures, such as vectors, matrices, and polynomials, which are non-numerical objects. Computer algebra is the implementation of algebraic methods as algorithms and computer programs. Recently, many algebraic cryptosystem protocols are based on non-commutative algebraic structures, such as authentication, key exchange, and encryption-decryption processes are adopted. Cryptography is the science that aimed at sending the information through public channels in such a way that only an authorized recipient can read it. Ring theory is the most attractive category of algebra in the area of cryptography. In this paper, we employ the algebraic structure called skew -Armendariz rings to design a neoteric algorithm for zero knowledge proof. The proposed protocol is established and illustrated through numerical example, and its soundness and completeness are proved.

Keywords: cryptosystem, identification, skew π-Armendariz rings, skew polynomial rings, zero knowledge protocol

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13716 Using Cyclic Structure to Improve Inference on Network Community Structure

Authors: Behnaz Moradijamei, Michael Higgins

Abstract:

Identifying community structure is a critical task in analyzing social media data sets often modeled by networks. Statistical models such as the stochastic block model have proven to explain the structure of communities in real-world network data. In this work, we develop a goodness-of-fit test to examine community structure's existence by using a distinguishing property in networks: cyclic structures are more prevalent within communities than across them. To better understand how communities are shaped by the cyclic structure of the network rather than just the number of edges, we introduce a novel method for deciding on the existence of communities. We utilize these structures by using renewal non-backtracking random walk (RNBRW) to the existing goodness-of-fit test. RNBRW is an important variant of random walk in which the walk is prohibited from returning back to a node in exactly two steps and terminates and restarts once it completes a cycle. We investigate the use of RNBRW to improve the performance of existing goodness-of-fit tests for community detection algorithms based on the spectral properties of the adjacency matrix. Our proposed test on community structure is based on the probability distribution of eigenvalues of the normalized retracing probability matrix derived by RNBRW. We attempt to make the best use of asymptotic results on such a distribution when there is no community structure, i.e., asymptotic distribution under the null hypothesis. Moreover, we provide a theoretical foundation for our statistic by obtaining the true mean and a tight lower bound for RNBRW edge weights variance.

Keywords: hypothesis testing, RNBRW, network inference, community structure

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13715 Teaching Children about Their Brains: Evaluating the Role of Neuroscience Undergraduates in Primary School Education

Authors: Clea Southall

Abstract:

Many children leave primary school having formed preconceptions about their relationship with science. Thus, primary school represents a critical window for stimulating scientific interest in younger children. Engagement relies on the provision of hands-on activities coupled with an ability to capture a child’s innate curiosity. This requires children to perceive science topics as interesting and relevant to their everyday life. Teachers and pupils alike have suggested the school curriculum be tailored to help stimulate scientific interest. Young children are naturally inquisitive about the human body; the brain is one topic which frequently engages pupils, although it is not currently included in the UK primary curriculum. Teaching children about the brain could have wider societal impacts such as increasing knowledge of neurological disorders. However, many primary school teachers do not receive formal neuroscience training and may feel apprehensive about delivering lessons on the nervous system. This is exacerbated by a lack of educational neuroscience resources. One solution is for undergraduates to form partnerships with schools - delivering engaging lessons and supplementing teacher knowledge. The aim of this project was to evaluate the success of a short lesson on the brain delivered by an undergraduate neuroscientist to primary school pupils. Prior to entering schools, semi-structured online interviews were conducted with teachers to gain pedagogical advice and relevant websites were searched for neuroscience resources. Subsequently, a single lesson plan was created comprising of four hands-on activities. The activities were devised in a top-down manner, beginning with learning about the brain as an entity, before focusing on individual neurons. Students were asked to label a ‘brain map’ to assess prior knowledge of brain structure and function. They viewed animal brains and created ‘pipe-cleaner neurons’ which were later used to depict electrical transmission. The same session was delivered by an undergraduate student to 570 key stage 2 (KS2) pupils across five schools in Leeds, UK. Post-session surveys, designed for teachers and pupils respectively, were used to evaluate the session. Children in all year groups had relatively poor knowledge of brain structure and function at the beginning of the session. When asked to label four brain regions with their respective functions, older pupils labeled a mean of 1.5 (± 1.0) brain regions compared to 0.8 (± 0.96) for younger pupils (p=0.002). However, by the end of the session, 95% of pupils felt their knowledge of the brain had increased. Hands-on activities were rated most popular by pupils and were considered the most successful aspect of the session by teachers. Although only half the teachers were aware of neuroscience educational resources, nearly all (95%) felt they would have more confidence in teaching a similar session in the future. All teachers felt the session was engaging and that the content could be linked to the current curriculum. Thus, a short fifty-minute session can successfully enhance pupils’ knowledge of a new topic: the brain. Partnerships with an undergraduate student can provide an alternative method for supplementing teacher knowledge, increasing their confidence in delivering future lessons on the nervous system.

Keywords: education, neuroscience, primary school, undergraduate

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13714 Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes toward the Use of Physical Restraints

Authors: Fatema Salman, Ridha Hammam, Fatima Khairallah, Fatima Aradi, Nafeesa Abdulla, Mohammed Alsafar

Abstract:

Purpose: This study aims at measuring the extent of nurses’ knowledge and attitudes toward the use of physical restraints in different hospital wards at Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC). Background: The habitual use of physical restraint is a widespread practice among nurses working in the clinical settings. Restraints inflict many deleterious consequences on patients physically and psychologically which in turn increases their morbidity and mortality risk and jeopardizes care quality. Nurses’ knowledge and attitudes toward physical restraints are crucial determinants of the persistence of this practice. Literature review: the evidence of lack of knowledge among nurses regarding the use of physical restraints is overwhelming in various clinical settings, especially in two main areas which are the negative consequences and the available alternatives to physical restraints. Studies explored nurses’ attitudes toward physical restraints yielded inconsistent findings. Equally comparable, some studies found that nurses hold positive attitudes toward the use of physical restraints while some others reported just the opposite. Methods: Self-administered knowledge and attitudes scales to 106 nurses working in the SMC. Findings: nurses hold the moderate level of knowledge about restraints (M=58%) with weak negative attitudes (M = -20%) toward using it. Significant moderately-strong negative correlation (r= -0.57, r2= 0.32, p= 0.000) was uncovered between nurses knowledge and their attitudes which provided an empirical explanation of this phenomenon (use of physical restraints). Recommendations: Induction of awareness program that especially focuses on the negative consequences and encourages the use of alternatives is an evident need. This effort necessarily should be adjoined with policy and procedure adjustments.

Keywords: attitudes, knowledge, nurses, restraints

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13713 Studying the Effectiveness of Using Narrative Animation on Students’ Understanding of Complex Scientific Concepts

Authors: Atoum Abdullah

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The purpose of this research is to determine the extent to which computer animation and narration affect students’ understanding of complex scientific concepts and improve their exam performance, this is compared to traditional lectures that include PowerPoints with texts and static images. A mixed-method design in data collection was used, including quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data was collected using a pre and post-test method and a close-ended questionnaire. Qualitative data was collected through an open-ended questionnaire. A pre and posttest strategy was used to measure the level of students’ understanding with and without the use of animation. The test included multiple-choice questions to test factual knowledge, open-ended questions to test conceptual knowledge, and to label the diagram questions to test application knowledge. The results showed that students on average, performed significantly higher on the posttest as compared to the pretest on all areas of acquired knowledge. However, the increase in the posttest score with respect to the acquisition of conceptual and application knowledge was higher compared to the increase in the posttest score with respect to the acquisition of factual knowledge. This result demonstrates that animation is more beneficial when acquiring deeper, conceptual, and cognitive knowledge than when only factual knowledge is acquired.

Keywords: animation, narration, science, teaching

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13712 A Game-Based Product Modelling Environment for Non-Engineer

Authors: Guolong Zhong, Venkatesh Chennam Vijay, Ilias Oraifige

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In the last 20 years, Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE) has shown its advantages in product development in different engineering areas such as automation, mechanical, civil and aerospace engineering in terms of digital design automation and cost reduction by automating repetitive design tasks through capturing, integrating, utilising and reusing the existing knowledge required in various aspects of the product design. However, in primary design stages, the descriptive information of a product is discrete and unorganized while knowledge is in various forms instead of pure data. Thus, it is crucial to have an integrated product model which can represent the entire product information and its associated knowledge at the beginning of the product design. One of the shortcomings of the existing product models is a lack of required knowledge representation in various aspects of product design and its mapping to an interoperable schema. To overcome the limitation of the existing product model and methodologies, two key factors are considered. First, the product model must have well-defined classes that can represent the entire product information and its associated knowledge. Second, the product model needs to be represented in an interoperable schema to ensure a steady data exchange between different product modelling platforms and CAD software. This paper introduced a method to provide a general product model as a generative representation of a product, which consists of the geometry information and non-geometry information, through a product modelling framework. The proposed method for capturing the knowledge from the designers through a knowledge file provides a simple and efficient way of collecting and transferring knowledge. Further, the knowledge schema provides a clear view and format on the data that needed to be gathered in order to achieve a unified knowledge exchange between different platforms. This study used a game-based platform to make product modelling environment accessible for non-engineers. Further the paper goes on to test use case based on the proposed game-based product modelling environment to validate the effectiveness among non-engineers.

Keywords: game-based learning, knowledge based engineering, product modelling, design automation

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13711 Multi-Stream Graph Attention Network for Recommendation with Knowledge Graph

Authors: Zhifei Hu, Feng Xia

Abstract:

In recent years, Graph neural network has been widely used in knowledge graph recommendation. The existing recommendation methods based on graph neural network extract information from knowledge graph through entity and relation, which may not be efficient in the way of information extraction. In order to better propose useful entity information for the current recommendation task in the knowledge graph, we propose an end-to-end Neural network Model based on multi-stream graph attentional Mechanism (MSGAT), which can effectively integrate the knowledge graph into the recommendation system by evaluating the importance of entities from both users and items. Specifically, we use the attention mechanism from the user's perspective to distil the domain nodes information of the predicted item in the knowledge graph, to enhance the user's information on items, and generate the feature representation of the predicted item. Due to user history, click items can reflect the user's interest distribution, we propose a multi-stream attention mechanism, based on the user's preference for entities and relationships, and the similarity between items to be predicted and entities, aggregate user history click item's neighborhood entity information in the knowledge graph and generate the user's feature representation. We evaluate our model on three real recommendation datasets: Movielens-1M (ML-1M), LFM-1B 2015 (LFM-1B), and Amazon-Book (AZ-book). Experimental results show that compared with the most advanced models, our proposed model can better capture the entity information in the knowledge graph, which proves the validity and accuracy of the model.

Keywords: graph attention network, knowledge graph, recommendation, information propagation

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13710 Analysis of Subordination: The Reproductive Sphere

Authors: Aneesa Shafi

Abstract:

Reproduction is a complex term in a setting where it is continuously being shaped by epistemological shifts in knowledge. It denotes not just fertility, birth and childcare related practices but also the ideas that shape those practices. These ideas and practices figure into understandings of social and cultural renewal. Patriarchy continues to be a dominating force in the formation of these ideas and practices. Contemporary times are characterized by the resurgence of the whims of patriarchal politics in delineating the margins of women’s health care. This has further emboldened the struggle for reproductive rights on the global stage. The paper examines the subordination of the right to bodily autonomy of women within the ambit of their reproductive rights. Reproductive rights are recognized human rights and women’s rights. Why these rights of women face stiff opposition is established, as is the structure that creates hurdles to their enjoyment. The negotiation of this structure in the everyday life through women’s agency is also established. The reproductive sphere includes not just the process of reproduction but also social reproduction- domestic work, spheres of production and reproduction, population and birth (control) issues.

Keywords: patriarchy, women, reproduction, gender

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13709 Comparing Community Detection Algorithms in Bipartite Networks

Authors: Ehsan Khademi, Mahdi Jalili

Abstract:

Despite the special features of bipartite networks, they are common in many systems. Real-world bipartite networks may show community structure, similar to what one can find in one-mode networks. However, the interpretation of the community structure in bipartite networks is different as compared to one-mode networks. In this manuscript, we compare a number of available methods that are frequently used to discover community structure of bipartite networks. These networks are categorized into two broad classes. One class is the methods that, first, transfer the network into a one-mode network, and then apply community detection algorithms. The other class is the algorithms that have been developed specifically for bipartite networks. These algorithms are applied on a model network with prescribed community structure.

Keywords: community detection, bipartite networks, co-clustering, modularity, network projection, complex networks

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13708 Knowledge Capital and Manufacturing Firms’ Innovation Management: Exploring the Impact of Transboundary Investment and Assimilative Capacity.

Authors: Suleman Bawa, Ayiku Emmanuel Lartey

Abstract:

Purpose - This paper aims to examine the association between knowledge capital and multinational firms’ innovation management. We again explored the impact of transboundary investment and assimilative capacity between knowledge capital and multinational firms’ innovation management. The vital position of knowledge capital and multinational firms’ innovation management in today’s increasingly volatile environment coupled with fierce competition has been extensively acknowledged by academics and industry investment capitals. Design/methodology/approach - The theoretical association model and an empirical correlation analysis were constructed based on relevant research using data collected from 19 multinational firms in Ghana as the subject, and path analysis was constructed using SPSS 22.0 and AMOS 24.0 to test the formulated hypotheses. Findings - Varied conclusions are drawn consequential from theoretical inferences and empirical tests. For multinational firms, knowledge capital relics positively significant to multinational firms’ innovation management. Multinational firms with advanced knowledge capital likely spawn greater corporations’ innovation management. Second, transboundary investment efficiently intermediates the association between knowledge physical capital, knowledge interactive capital, and corporations’ innovation management. At the same time, this impact is insignificant between knowledge of empirical capital and corporations’ innovation management. Lastly, the impact of transboundary investment and assimilative capacity on the association between knowledge capital and corporations’ innovation management is established. We summarized the implications for managers based on our outcomes. Research limitations/implications - Multinational firms must dynamically build knowledge capital to augment corporations’ innovation management. Conversely, knowledge capital motivates multinational firms to implement transboundary investment and cultivate assimilative capacity. Accordingly, multinational firms can efficiently exploit diverse information to augment their corporate innovation management. Practical implications – This paper presents a comprehensive justification of knowledge capital and manufacturing firms’ innovation management by exploring the impact of transboundary investment and assimilative capacity within the manufacturing industry, its sequential progress, and its associated challenges. Originality/value – This paper is amongst the first to find empirical results to back knowledge capital and manufacturing firms’ innovation management by exploring the impact of transboundary investment and assimilative capacity within the manufacturing industry. Additionally, aligning knowledge as a coordinative instrument is a significant input to our discernment in this area.

Keywords: knowledge capital, transboundary investment, innovation management, assimilative capacity

Procedia PDF Downloads 35