Search results for: human resource
2225 The Problem of Power and Management in the Information Society
Authors: Shattyk Aliyev, Zhakypbek Altayev, Pirimbek Suleimenov, Asset Kuranbek, Zhamila Amirkulova
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Modern civilization has come in recent decades into a new phase in its development, called the information society. The concept of "information society" has become one of the most common. Therefore, the attempt to understand what exactly the society we live in, what are its essential features, and possible future scenarios, is important to the social and philosophical analysis. At the heart of all these deep transformations is more increasing, almost defining role knowledge and information as play substrata of «information society». The mankind opened for itself and actively exploits a new resource – information. Information society puts forward on the arena new type of the power, at the heart of which activity – mastering by a new resource: information and knowledge. The password of the new power – intelligence as synthesis of knowledge, information and communications, the strength of mind, fundamental sociocultural values. In a postindustrial society, the power of knowledge and information is crucial in the management of the company, pushing into the background the influence of money and state coercion.
Keywords: Information society, philosophy of power, management, globalization and innovation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15512224 Overviews of Rainwater Harvesting and Utilization in Thailand: Bangsaiy Municipality
Authors: N. Areerachakul
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In developing countries located in monsoon areas like Thailand where rainwater is currently of no value for urban dwellers due to easily access to piped water supply at each household, studies in rainwater harvesting for domestic use are of low interest. However it is needed to undertake research to find out appropriate rainwater harvesting systems particularly for small urban communities that are recently developed from a full rural structure to urban context. As a matter of fact, in such transitional period, relying on only common water resources is risky. With some specific economic settings, land use patterns, and historical and cultural context that dominate perceptions of water users in the study area, the level of service in this study may certainly be different from megacities or cities located in industrial zone. The overviews of some available technologies and background of rainwater harvesting including alternate resource are included in this paper. Among other sources of water supply, ground water use as the water resource of Thailand and also in the study area.Keywords: Developing country, water supply, rainwater, ground water.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 25772223 Mathematical Model of Dengue Disease with the Incubation Period of Virus
Authors: P. Pongsumpun
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Dengue virus is transmitted from person to person through the biting of infected Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes. DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4 are four serotypes of this virus. Infection with one of these four serotypes apparently produces permanent immunity to it, but only temporary cross immunity to the others. The length of time during incubation of dengue virus in human and mosquito are considered in this study. The dengue patients are classified into infected and infectious classes. The infectious human can transmit dengue virus to susceptible mosquitoes but infected human can not. The transmission model of this disease is formulated. The human population is divided into susceptible, infected, infectious and recovered classes. The mosquito population is separated into susceptible, infected and infectious classes. Only infectious mosquitoes can transmit dengue virus to the susceptible human. We analyze this model by using dynamical analysis method. The threshold condition is discussed to reduce the outbreak of this disease.Keywords: Transmission model, intrinsic incubation period, extrinsic incubation period, basic reproductive number, equilibriumstates, local stability.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21842222 Differentiation Capacity of Mouse L929 Fibroblastic Cell Line Compare With Human Dermal Fibroblast
Authors: Kasem Theerakittayakorn, Tanom Bunprasert
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Mouse L929 fibroblastic cell line, which is widely used in many experiment aspects, was tested for their differentiation potency in osteogenic differentiation and adipogenic differentiation. Human dermal fibroblasts, which their differentiation potency are still be in confliction, also be taken in the experiment. The differentiations were conducted by using the inducing medium ingredients which is generally used to induce differentiation of stem cells. By the inducing media used, L929 mouse fibroblasts successfully underwent osteogenic differentiation and adipogenic differentiation while human dermal fibroblasts underwent only osteogenic differentiation but not for adipogenic differentiation. Human dermal fibroblasts are hard to be differentiated in adipogenic lineage and need specific proper condition for induction.Keywords: Adipogenic differentiation, Fibroblast, Inducingmedium, Osteogenic differentiation
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 82952221 Measurement and Analysis of Human Hand Kinematics
Authors: Tamara Grujic, Mirjana Bonkovic
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Measurements and quantitative analysis of kinematic parameters of human hand movements have an important role in different areas such as hand function rehabilitation, modeling of multi-digits robotic hands, and the development of machine-man interfaces. In this paper the assessment and evaluation of the reachto- grasp movement by using computerized and robot-assisted method is described. Experiment involved the measurements of hand positions of seven healthy subjects during grasping three objects of different shapes and sizes. Results showed that three dominant phases of reach-to-grasp movements could be clearly identified.
Keywords: Human hand, kinematics, reach-to-grasp movement.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 37602220 Smartphone-Based Human Activity Recognition by Machine Learning Methods
Authors: Yanting Cao, Kazumitsu Nawata
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As smartphones are continually upgrading, their software and hardware are getting smarter, so the smartphone-based human activity recognition will be described more refined, complex and detailed. In this context, we analyzed a set of experimental data, obtained by observing and measuring 30 volunteers with six activities of daily living (ADL). Due to the large sample size, especially a 561-feature vector with time and frequency domain variables, cleaning these intractable features and training a proper model become extremely challenging. After a series of feature selection and parameters adjustments, a well-performed SVM classifier has been trained.
Keywords: smart sensors, human activity recognition, artificial intelligence, SVM
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6352219 Cytotoxic Effects of Engineered Nanoparticles in Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Authors: Ali A. Alshatwi, Vaiyapuri S. Periasamy, Jegan Athinarayanan
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Engineered nanoparticles’ usage rapidly increased in various applications in the last decade due to their unusual properties. However, there is an ever increasing concern to understand their toxicological effect in human health. Particularly, metal and metal oxide nanoparticles have been used in various sectors including biomedical, food and agriculture. But their impact on human health is yet to be fully understood. In this present investigation, we assessed the toxic effect of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) including Ag, MgO and Co3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) on human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) adopting cell viability and cellular morphological changes as tools The results suggested that silver NPs are more toxic than MgO and Co3O4NPs. The ENPs induced cytotoxicity and nuclear morphological changes in hMSC depending on dose. The cell viability decreases with increase in concentration of ENPs. The cellular morphology studies revealed that ENPs damaged the cells. These preliminary findings have implications for the use of these nanoparticles in food industry with systematic regulations.
Keywords: Cobalt oxide, Human mesenchymal stem cells, MgO, Silver.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 24082218 Toward Integrative Stormwater Design in Urban Spaces
Authors: Bruce K. Ferguson
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The design requirements for successful human accommodation in urban spaces are well known; and the range of facilities available for meeting urban water quality and quantity requirements is also well established. Their competing requirements must be reconciled in order for urban spaces to be successful for both. This paper outlines the separate human and water imperatives and their interactions in urban spaces. Stormwater management facilities- relative potential contributions to urban spaces are contrasted, and design choices for achieving those potentials are described. This study uses human success of urban space as the evaluative criterion of stormwater amenity: human values call on stormwater facilities to contribute to successful human spaces. Placing water-s contribution under the overall idea of successful urban space is an evolution from previous subjective evaluations. The information is based on photographs and notes from approximately 1,000 stormwater facilities and urban sites collected during the last 35 years in North America and overseas, and the author-s experience on multi-disciplinary design teams. This conceptual study combines the disciplinary roles of engineering, landscape architecture, and sociology in effecting successful urban design.Keywords: Stormwater, SUDS, Urban design, Values, Urban space.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18392217 A Fitted Random Sampling Scheme for Load Distribution in Grid Networks
Authors: O. A. Rahmeh, P. Johnson, S. Lehmann
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Grid networks provide the ability to perform higher throughput computing by taking advantage of many networked computer-s resources to solve large-scale computation problems. As the popularity of the Grid networks has increased, there is a need to efficiently distribute the load among the resources accessible on the network. In this paper, we present a stochastic network system that gives a distributed load-balancing scheme by generating almost regular networks. This network system is self-organized and depends only on local information for load distribution and resource discovery. The in-degree of each node is refers to its free resources, and job assignment and resource discovery processes required for load balancing is accomplished by using fitted random sampling. Simulation results show that the generated network system provides an effective, scalable, and reliable load-balancing scheme for the distributed resources accessible on Grid networks.
Keywords: Complex networks, grid networks, load-balancing, random sampling.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17842216 The Use of Scuba Diving Tourism for Marine Protected Area Management
Authors: L. Mota, O. Frausto
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Marine Protected Areas can benefit from nature based tourism, monitoring environmental impacts and also become target for human presence. From more than 3 million tourists visiting Cozumel Island every year, an average of 2,8 million arrive by cruise ship, and 41% are estimated to have motivation for water activities. The destination is relying so much on the tourism activity, that scuba diving and snorkeling in the National Park Reef of Cozumel sustain the major economic activity. In order to achieve the sustainable development indicator designed for regional environmental development, the PNAC offers a training course to tourism providers to access the protected area. This way, the update of the last 5 years of such training is directed to diving staff, boat crew and professionals, making them able to assist in managing the natural resource. Moreover, the case study is an example to be used for raising awareness among tourists visiting protected areas.
Keywords: Education, Marine Protected Area, scuba diving, sustainability, tourism.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 25312215 The Optimal Equilibrium Capacity of Information Hiding Based on Game Theory
Authors: Ziquan Hu, Kun She, Shahzad Ali, Kai Yan
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Game theory could be used to analyze the conflicted issues in the field of information hiding. In this paper, 2-phase game can be used to build the embedder-attacker system to analyze the limits of hiding capacity of embedding algorithms: the embedder minimizes the expected damage and the attacker maximizes it. In the system, the embedder first consumes its resource to build embedded units (EU) and insert the secret information into EU. Then the attacker distributes its resource evenly to the attacked EU. The expected equilibrium damage, which is maximum damage in value from the point of view of the attacker and minimum from the embedder against the attacker, is evaluated by the case when the attacker attacks a subset from all the EU. Furthermore, the optimal equilibrium capacity of hiding information is calculated through the optimal number of EU with the embedded secret information. Finally, illustrative examples of the optimal equilibrium capacity are presented.Keywords: 2-Phase Game, Expected Equilibrium damage, InformationHiding, Optimal Equilibrium Capacity.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16202214 Usability Evaluation Framework for Computer Vision Based Interfaces
Authors: Muhammad Raza Ali, Tim Morris
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Human computer interaction has progressed considerably from the traditional modes of interaction. Vision based interfaces are a revolutionary technology, allowing interaction through human actions, gestures. Researchers have developed numerous accurate techniques, however, with an exception to few these techniques are not evaluated using standard HCI techniques. In this paper we present a comprehensive framework to address this issue. Our evaluation of a computer vision application shows that in addition to the accuracy, it is vital to address human factorsKeywords: Usability evaluation, cognitive walkthrough, think aloud, gesture recognition.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16702213 Optimal Water Allocation: Sustainable Management of Dam Reservoir
Authors: Afshin Jahangirzadeh, Shatirah Akib, Babak Kamali, Sadia Rahman
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Scarcity of water resources and huge costs of establishing new hydraulic installations necessitate optimal exploitation from existing reservoirs. Sustainable management and efficient exploitation from existing finite water resources are important factors in water resource management, particularly in the periods of water insufficiency and in dry regions, and on account of competitive allocations in the view of exploitation management. This study aims to minimize reservoir water release from a determined rate of demand. A numerical model for water optimal exploitation has been developed using GAMS introduced by the World Bank and applied to the case of Meijaran dam, northern Iran. The results indicate that this model can optimize the function of reservoir exploitation while required water for lower parts of the region will be supplied. Further, allocating optimal water from reservoir, the optimal rate of water allocated to any group of the users were specified to increase benefits in curve dam exploitation.Keywords: Water resource management, water reservoirs, water allocation, GAMS, Meijaran dam
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 27082212 Public Transport Prospective of People with Reduced Mobility in Hungary
Authors: Veronika Kántor-Forgách
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To comply with the international human right legislation concerning the freedom of movement, transport systems are required to be made accessible in order that all citizens, regardless of their physical condition, have equal possibilities to use them. In Hungary, apparently there is a considerable default in the improvement of accessible public transport. This study is aiming to overview the current Hungarian situation and to reveal the reasons of the deficiency. The result shows that in spite of the relatively favourable juridical background linked to the accessibility needs and to the rights of persons with disabilities there is a strong delay in putting all in practice in the field of public transport. Its main reason is the lack of financial resource and referring to this the lack of creating mandatory regulations. In addition to this the proprietary rights related to public transport are also variable, which also limits the improvement possibilities. Consequently, first of all an accurate and detailed regulatory procedure is expected to change the present unfavourable situation and to create the conditions of the fast realization, which is already behind time.Keywords: accessibility, legislation, people with reducedmobility, public transport.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13522211 Online Pose Estimation and Tracking Approach with Siamese Region Proposal Network
Authors: Cheng Fang, Lingwei Quan, Cunyue Lu
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Human pose estimation and tracking are to accurately identify and locate the positions of human joints in the video. It is a computer vision task which is of great significance for human motion recognition, behavior understanding and scene analysis. There has been remarkable progress on human pose estimation in recent years. However, more researches are needed for human pose tracking especially for online tracking. In this paper, a framework, called PoseSRPN, is proposed for online single-person pose estimation and tracking. We use Siamese network attaching a pose estimation branch to incorporate Single-person Pose Tracking (SPT) and Visual Object Tracking (VOT) into one framework. The pose estimation branch has a simple network structure that replaces the complex upsampling and convolution network structure with deconvolution. By augmenting the loss of fully convolutional Siamese network with the pose estimation task, pose estimation and tracking can be trained in one stage. Once trained, PoseSRPN only relies on a single bounding box initialization and producing human joints location. The experimental results show that while maintaining the good accuracy of pose estimation on COCO and PoseTrack datasets, the proposed method achieves a speed of 59 frame/s, which is superior to other pose tracking frameworks.Keywords: Computer vision, Siamese network, pose estimation, pose tracking.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11652210 Using Automatic Ontology Learning Methods in Human Plausible Reasoning Based Systems
Authors: A. R. Vazifedoost, M. Rahgozar, F. Oroumchian
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Knowledge discovery from text and ontology learning are relatively new fields. However their usage is extended in many fields like Information Retrieval (IR) and its related domains. Human Plausible Reasoning based (HPR) IR systems for example need a knowledge base as their underlying system which is currently made by hand. In this paper we propose an architecture based on ontology learning methods to automatically generate the needed HPR knowledge base.Keywords: Ontology Learning, Human Plausible Reasoning, knowledge extraction, knowledge representation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16002209 Human Verification in a Video Surveillance System Using Statistical Features
Authors: Sanpachai Huvanandana
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A human verification system is presented in this paper. The system consists of several steps: background subtraction, thresholding, line connection, region growing, morphlogy, star skelatonization, feature extraction, feature matching, and decision making. The proposed system combines an advantage of star skeletonization and simple statistic features. A correlation matching and probability voting have been used for verification, followed by a logical operation in a decision making stage. The proposed system uses small number of features and the system reliability is convincing.Keywords: Human verification, object recognition, videounderstanding, segmentation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15042208 A Study of Computational Organizational Narrative Generation for Decision Support
Authors: Yeung C.L., Cheung C.F., Wang W.M., Tsui E.
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Narratives are invaluable assets of human lives. Due to the distinct features of narratives, they are useful for supporting human reasoning processes. However, many useful narratives become residuals in organizations or human minds nowadays. Researchers have contributed effort to investigate and improve narrative generation processes. This paper attempts to contemplate essential components in narratives and explore a computational approach to acquire and extract knowledge to generate narratives. The methodology and significant benefit for decision support are presented.Keywords: Decision Support, Knowledge Management, Knowledge-based Systems, Narrative Generation
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 12992207 Relevant LMA Features for Human Motion Recognition
Authors: Insaf Ajili, Malik Mallem, Jean-Yves Didier
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Motion recognition from videos is actually a very complex task due to the high variability of motions. This paper describes the challenges of human motion recognition, especially motion representation step with relevant features. Our descriptor vector is inspired from Laban Movement Analysis method. We propose discriminative features using the Random Forest algorithm in order to remove redundant features and make learning algorithms operate faster and more effectively. We validate our method on MSRC-12 and UTKinect datasets.Keywords: Human motion recognition, Discriminative LMA features, random forest, features reduction.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7732206 Industry Openness, Human Capital and Wage Inequality: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Firms
Authors: Qiong Huang, Satish Chand
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This paper uses a primary data from 670 Chinese manufacturing firms, together with the newly introduced regressionbased inequality decomposition method, to study the effect of openness on wage inequality. We find that openness leads to a positive industry wage premium, but its contribution to firm-level wage inequality is relatively small, only 4.69%. The major contributor to wage inequality is human capital, which could explain 14.3% of wage inequality across sample firms.Keywords: Openness, human capital, wage inequality, decomposition; China.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11932205 EEG Indices to Time-On-Task Effects and to a Workload Manipulation (Cueing)
Authors: A. T. Kamzanova, G. Matthews, A. M. Kustubayeva, S. M. Jakupov
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The aim of this study was to evaluate the sensitivity of a range of EEG indices to time-on-task effects and to a workload manipulation (cueing), during performance of a resource-limited vigilance task. Effects of task period and cueing on performance and subjective state response were consistent with previous vigilance studies and with resource theory. Two EEG indices – the Task Load Index (TLI) and global lower frequency (LF) alpha power – showed effects of task period and cueing similar to those seen with correct detections. Across four successive task periods, the TLI declined and LF alpha power increased. Cueing increased TLI and decreased LF alpha. Other indices – the Engagement Index (EI), frontal theta and upper frequency (UF) alpha failed to show these effects. However, EI and frontal theta were sensitive to interactive effects of task period and cueing, which may correspond to a stronger anxiety response to the uncued task.Keywords: brain activity, EEG, task engagement, vigilance task.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 23222204 A Sustainable Design that Enhance the Quality of Life and Human Behavior's
Authors: Rania Rushdy Moussa
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Public parks are placed high on the research agenda, with many studies addressing their social, economic and environment influences in different countries around the world. They have been recognized as contributors to the physical quality of urban environments. Recently, a broader view of public parks has emerged. This view goes well beyond the traditional value of parks as places for more recreation and visual delight, to depict them as valuable contributors to broader strategic objectives, such as property values, place attractiveness, job opportunities, social belonging, public health, tourist development, and improving the overall quality of life. This research examines the role of public parks in enhancing the quality of human life in Egyptian environment. It measures 'quality of life' in terms of 'human needs' and 'well-being'. This should open ways for policymakers, practitioners, researchers and the public to realize the potentials of public parks towards improving the quality of life.
Keywords: Elements of Parks, Human Needs, Quality of Life (QOL), Subjective Well-Being.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15612203 Research on Load Balancing Technology for Web Service Mobile Host
Authors: Yao Lu, Xiuguo Zhang, Zhiying Cao
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In this paper, Load Balancing idea is used in the Web service mobile host. The main idea of Load Balancing is to establish a one-to-many mapping mechanism: An entrance-mapping request to plurality of processing node in order to realize the dividing and assignment processing. Because the mobile host is a resource constrained environment, there are some Web services which cannot be completed on the mobile host. When the mobile host resource is not enough to complete the request, Load Balancing scheduler will divide the request into a plurality of sub-requests and transfer them to different auxiliary mobile hosts. Auxiliary mobile host executes sub-requests, and then, the results will be returned to the mobile host. Service request integrator receives results of sub-requests from the auxiliary mobile host, and integrates the sub-requests. In the end, the complete request is returned to the client. Experimental results show that this technology adopted in this paper can complete requests and have a higher efficiency.Keywords: Dinic, load balancing, mobile host, web service.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 11322202 Scheduling Multiple Workflow Using De-De Dodging Algorithm and PBD Algorithm in Cloud: Detailed Study
Authors: B. Arun Kumar, T. Ravichandran
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Workflow scheduling is an important part of cloud computing and based on different criteria it decides cost, execution time, and performances. A cloud workflow system is a platform service facilitating automation of distributed applications based on new cloud infrastructure. An aspect which differentiates cloud workflow system from others is market-oriented business model, an innovation which challenges conventional workflow scheduling strategies. Time and Cost optimization algorithm for scheduling Hybrid Clouds (TCHC) algorithm decides which resource should be chartered from public providers is combined with a new De-De algorithm considering that every instance of single and multiple workflows work without deadlocks. To offset this, two new concepts - De-De Dodging Algorithm and Priority Based Decisive Algorithm - combine with conventional deadlock avoidance issues by proposing one algorithm that maximizes active (not just allocated) resource use and reduces Makespan.Keywords: Workflow Scheduling, cloud workflow, TCHC algorithm, De-De Dodging Algorithm, Priority Based Decisive Algorithm (PBD), Makespan.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 27962201 3D Digitalization of the Human Body for Use in Orthotics and Prosthetics
Authors: D. Koutny, D. Palousek, T. Koutecky, A. Zatocilova, J. Rosicky, M. Janda
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The motivation of this work was to find a suitable 3D scanner for human body parts digitalization in the field of prosthetics and orthotics. The main project objective is to compare the three hand-held portable scanners (two optical and one laser) and two optical tripod scanners. The comparison was made with respect of scanning detail, simplicity of operation and ability to scan directly on the human body. Testing was carried out on a plaster cast of the upper limb and directly on a few volunteers. The objective monitored parameters were time of digitizing and post-processing of 3D data and resulting visual data quality. Subjectively, it was considered level of usage and handling of the scanner. The new tripod was developed to improve the face scanning conditions. The results provide an overview of the suitability of different types of scanners.Keywords: 3D digitization, prosthetics and orthotics, human body digitization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 42332200 3D Definition for Human Smiles
Authors: Shyue-Ran Li, Kuohsiang Chen
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The study explored varied types of human smiles and extracted most of the key factors affecting the smiles. These key factors then were converted into a set of control points which could serve to satisfy the needs for creation of facial expression for 3D animators and be further applied to the face simulation for robots in the future. First, hundreds of human smile pictures were collected and analyzed to identify the key factors for face expression. Then, the factors were converted into a set of control points and sizing parameters calculated proportionally. Finally, two different faces were constructed for validating the parameters via the process of simulating smiles of the same type as the original one.Keywords: 3D animation, facial expression, numerical, robot, smile parameter.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 15092199 The Importance of Applying Established Web Site Design Principles on an Online Performance Management System
Authors: R. W. Brown, P. J. Blignaut
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An online performance management system was evaluated, and recommendations were made to improve the system. The study shows the effects of not adhering to the established web design principles and conventions. Furthermore, the study indicates that if the online performance management system is not well designed, it may have negative effects on the overall usability of the system and these negative effects will have consequences for both the employer and employees. The evaluation was done in terms of the usability metrics of effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction. Effectiveness was measured in terms of the success rate with which users could execute prescribed tasks in a sandbox system. Efficiency was expressed in terms of the time it took participants to understand what is expected of them and to execute the tasks. Post-test questionnaires were used in order to determine the satisfaction of the participants. Recommendations were made to improve the usability of the online performance management system.
Keywords: Eye tracking, human resource management, performance management, usability.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8742198 The Resource Description Framework (RDF) as a Modern Structure for Medical Data
Authors: Gabriela Lindemann, Danilo Schmidt, Thomas Schrader, Dietmar Keune
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The amount and heterogeneity of data in biomedical research, notably in interdisciplinary fields, requires new methods for the collection, presentation and analysis of information. Important data from laboratory experiments as well as patient trials are available but come out of distributed resources. The Charité - University Hospital Berlin has established together with the German Research Foundation (DFG) a new information service centre for kidney diseases and transplantation (Open European Nephrology Science Centre - OpEN.SC). Beside a collaborative aspect to create new research groups every single partner or institution of this science information centre making his own data available is allowed to search the whole data pool of the various involved centres. A core task is the implementation of a non-restricting open data structure for the various different data sources. We decided to use a modern RDF model and in a first phase transformed original data coming from the web-based Electronic Patient Record database TBase©.
Keywords: Medical databases, Resource Description Framework (RDF), metadata repository.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20302197 Bandwidth Estimation Algorithms for the Dynamic Adaptation of Voice Codec
Authors: Davide Pierattoni, Ivan Macor, Pier Luca Montessoro
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In the recent years multimedia traffic and in particular VoIP services are growing dramatically. We present a new algorithm to control the resource utilization and to optimize the voice codec selection during SIP call setup on behalf of the traffic condition estimated on the network path. The most suitable methodologies and the tools that perform realtime evaluation of the available bandwidth on a network path have been integrated with our proposed algorithm: this selects the best codec for a VoIP call in function of the instantaneous available bandwidth on the path. The algorithm does not require any explicit feedback from the network, and this makes it easily deployable over the Internet. We have also performed intensive tests on real network scenarios with a software prototype, verifying the algorithm efficiency with different network topologies and traffic patterns between two SIP PBXs. The promising results obtained during the experimental validation of the algorithm are now the basis for the extension towards a larger set of multimedia services and the integration of our methodology with existing PBX appliances.Keywords: Integrated voice-data communication, computernetwork performance, resource optimization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16922196 Human Capital and Capability Approach in European Lifelong Learning Development: A Case Study of Macedonia in the Balkan
Authors: E. Heikkilä
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The paper discusses European Lifelong Learning policy in the European enlargement to the Balkan. The European Lifelong Learning policy with Human Capital approach is researched in the country case of Macedonia. The paper argues that Human Capital approach focusing on instrumental and economic importance of learning for employability and economic growth needs to be complemented with Capability Approach for intrinsic and noneconomic needs of learning among the ethnic minorities. The paper identifies two dimensions of importance – minority languages and civic education – that the Capability Approach may develop to guarantee equal opportunities to all to benefit from European educational and lifelong learning development and to build an inclusive and socially just democracy in Macedonia.
Keywords: Capability approach, European lifelong learning, human capital theory.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1801