Search results for: social networking sites

Authors: Yi-Zhong Weng, Chien-Kang Huang, Yu-Feng Huang, Chi-Yuan Yu, Darby Tien-Hao Chang

Abstract:

Search for a tertiary substructure that geometrically matches the 3D pattern of the binding site of a well-studied protein provides a solution to predict protein functions. In our previous work, a web server has been built to predict protein-ligand binding sites based on automatically extracted templates. However, a drawback of such templates is that the web server was prone to resulting in many false positive matches. In this study, we present a sequence-order constraint to reduce the false positive matches of using automatically extracted templates to predict protein-ligand binding sites. The binding site predictor comprises i) an automatically constructed template library and ii) a local structure alignment algorithm for querying the library. The sequence-order constraint is employed to identify the inconsistency between the local regions of the query protein and the templates. Experimental results reveal that the sequence-order constraint can largely reduce the false positive matches and is effective for template-based binding site prediction.

Keywords: Protein structure, binding site, functional prediction

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1415

Authors: Mahmood Niroobakhsh

Abstract:

This article deals with special structuralism approaches to explain a certain kind of social problem. Widespread presence of poverty is a reminder of deep-rooted unresolved problems of social relations. The expected role from an individual for the social system recognizes poverty derived from an interrelated social structure. By the time, enabled to act on his role in the course of social interaction, reintegration of the poor in society may take place. Poverty and housing type are reflections of the underlying social structure, primarily structure’s elements, systemic interrelations, and the overall strength or weakness of that structure. Poverty varies based on social structure in that the stronger structures are less likely to produce poverty.

Keywords: Absolute poverty, relative poverty, social structure, urban poverty.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1616

Authors: M. Grifoni, G. Petruzzelli, M. Barbafieri, I. Rosellini, B. Pezzarossa, F. Pedron

Abstract:

Evapotranspiration (ET) covers are an alternative cover system that utilizes water balance approach to maximize the ET process to reduce the contaminants leaching through the soil profile. Microcosm tests allow to identify in a short time the most suitable plant species to be used as alternative covers, their survival capacity, and simultaneously the transpiration and evaporation rate of the cover in a specific contaminated soil. This work shows the soil characterization and ET results of microcosm tests carried out on two contaminated soils by using Triticum durum and Helianthus annuus species. The data indicated that transpiration was higher than evaporation, supporting the use of plants as alternative cover at this contaminated site.

Keywords: Contaminated sites, ET cover, evapotranspiration, microcosm experiments.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1205

Authors: Linda Sau-ling LAI

Abstract:

This paper aims to address the new trend of social commerce as electronic commerce leverages Web 2.0 technologies and online social media. The infusions of new technologies on the World Wide Web connect users in their homes and workplaces, thus transforming social formations and business transactions. An in-depth study of the growth and success of a social commerce site, Facebook was conducted. The investigation is finalized with a triad relational model which reflects socioeconomic life in the Internet today. The following three concepts work jointly to form a global community that has already started to take the place of traditional commerce and socialization: Web 2.0 technology, E-commerce, and online social media. A discussion of the research findings indicates that social commerce networks are sustainable because of the various incentives given to users as they collaborate with others regardless of their identity and location. The focus of this article is to increase understanding on quickly developing Web 2.0 based social media and their subsequent effects on the emerging social commerce.

Keywords: Social Commerce, Web 2.0, ElectronicCommerce, Social Media

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7531

Authors: Ji-Young Song, Moon-Shuk Song, Hee-Seung Na

Abstract:

Recently, Northeast Asia has become one of the three largest trade areas, covering approximately 30% of the total trade volume of the world. However, the distribution facilities are saturated due to the increase in the transportation volume within the area and with the European countries. In order to accommodate the increase of the transportation volume, the transportation networking with the major countries in Northeast Asia and Europe is absolutely necessary. The Eurasian Logistics Network will develop into an international passenger transportation network covering the Northeast Asian region and an international freight transportation network connecting across Eurasia Continent. This paper surveys the changes and trend of the distribution network in the Eurasian Region according to the political, economic and environmental changes of the region, analyses the distribution network according to the changes in the transportation policies of the related countries, and provides the direction of the development of composite transportation on the basis of the present conditions of transportation means. The transportation means optimal for the efficiency of transportation system are suggested to be train ferries, sea & rail or sea & rail & sea. It is suggested to develop diversified composite transportation means and routes within the boundary of international cooperation system.

Keywords: Eurasian Logistics, Integrated Distribution Transport, Northeast Asia, Transportation Networking

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1616

Authors: U. Bawa

Abstract:

Macro invertebrates have been used to monitor organic pollution in rivers and streams. Several biotic indices based on macro invertebrates have been developed over the years including the Biological Monitoring Working Party (BMWP). A new biotic index, the Gammarus:Asellus ratio has been recently proposed as an index of organic pollution. This study tested the validity of the Gammarus:Asellus ratio as an index of organic pollution, by examining the relationship between the Gammarus:Asellus ratio and physical chemical parameters, and other biotic indices such as BMWP and, Average Score Per Taxon (ASPT) from lakes and streams at Markeaton Park, Allestree Park and Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire. Macro invertebrates were sampled using the standard five minute kick sampling techniques physical and chemical environmental variables were obtained based on standard sampling techniques. Eighteen sites were sampled, six sites from Markeaton Park (three sites across the stream and three sites across the lake). Six sites each were also sampled from Allestree Park and Kedleston Hall lakes. The Gammarus:Asellus ratio showed an opposite significant positive correlations with parameters indicative of organic pollution such as the level of nitrates, phosphates, and calcium and also revealed a negatively significant correlations with other biotic indices (BMWP/ASPT). The BMWP score correlated positively significantly with some water quality parameters such as dissolved oxygen and flow rate, but revealed no correlations with other chemical environmental variables. The BMWP score was significantly higher in the stream than the lake in Markeaton Park, also The ASPT scores appear to be significantly higher in the upper Lakes than the middle and lower lakes. This study has further strengthened the use of BMWP/ASPT score as an index of organic pollution. But additional application is required to validate the use of Gammarus:Asellus as a rapid bio monitoring tool.

Keywords: Asellus, Biotic index, Gammarus, Organic pollution, Macro invertebrate.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2875

Authors: Rihards Balodis, Inara Opmane

Abstract:

Deep and radical social reforms of the last century-s nineties in many Eastern European countries caused changes in Information Technology-s (IT) field. Inefficient information technologies were rapidly replaced with forefront IT solutions, e.g., in Eastern European countries there is a high level penetration of qualitative high-speed Internet. The authors have taken part in the introduction of those changes in Latvia-s leading IT research institute. Grounding on their experience authors in this paper offer an IT services based model for analysis the mentioned changes- and development processes in the higher education and research fields, i.e., for research e-infrastructure-s development. Compare to the international practice such services were developed in Eastern Europe in an untraditional way, which provided swift and positive technological changes.

Keywords: Computing, data networking, e-infrastructure, IT services.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1849

Authors: Y. Hadjichristou, A. Swiny, M. Georgiou

Abstract:

This paper focuses on the questions raised through the work of Unit 5: ‘In/Out Crisis, emergent and adaptive’; an architectural research-based studio at [ARC] University of Nicosia. Students were asked to delve into state of Art Technologies in order to propose sustainable Emergent and Adaptive Architectures and Urbanities, the resulting unprecedented spatial conditions and atmospheres of the emergent new ways of living are deemed to be the ultimate aim of the investigation. Students explored a variety of sites and crisis conditions seen through their primary ingredient identified as soil, water and air and their paired combination. Within this methodology, crisis is seen as a mechanism for allowing an emergence of new and fascinating ultimate sustainable future cultures and cities by taking advantage of the primary materiality of the sites.

Keywords: Adaptive built environments, crisis as opportunity, emergent urbanities, forces for inventions.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1741

Authors: K. A. Ghazaryan, G. A. Gevorgyan, H. S. Movsesyan, N. P. Ghazaryan, K. V. Grigoryan

Abstract:

The heavy metal pollution degree in the soils around the Zangezur copper and molybdenum combine in Syunik Marz, Armenia was assessed. The results of the study showed that heavy metal pollution degree in the soils mainly decreased with increasing distance from the open mine and the ore enrichment combine which indicated that the open mine and the ore enrichment combine were the main sources of heavy metal pollution. The only exception was observed in the northern part of the open mine where pollution degree in the sites (along the open mine) situated 600 meters far from the mine was higher than that in the sites located 300 meters far from the mine. This can be explained by the characteristics of relief and air currents as well as the weak vegetation cover of these sites and the characteristics of soil structure. According to geo-accumulation index (I-geo), contamination factor (Cf), contamination degree (Cd) and pollution load index (PLI) values, the pollution degree in the soils around the open mine and the ore enrichment combine was higher than that in the soils around the tailing dumps which was due to the proper and accurate operation of the Artsvanik tailing damp and the recultivation of the Voghji tailing dump. The high Cu and Mo pollution of the soils was conditioned by the character of industrial activities, the moving direction of air currents as well as the physicochemical peculiarities of the soils.

Keywords: Armenia, Zangezur copper and molybdenum combine, soil, heavy metal pollution degree.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2523

Authors: Ime R. Udotong, Justina I. R. Udotong, Ofonime U. M. John

Abstract:

Ibeno, Nigeria hosts the operational base of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU), a subsidiary of ExxonMobil and the current highest oil & condensate producer in Nigeria. Besides MPNU, other oil companies operate onshore, on the continental shelf and deep offshore of the Atlantic Ocean in Ibeno, Nigeria. This study was designed to delineate oil polluted sites in Ibeno, Nigeria using geophysical methods of electrical resistivity (ER) and ground penetrating radar (GPR). Results obtained revealed that there have been hydrocarbon contaminations of this environment by past crude oil spills as observed from high resistivity values and GPR profiles which clearly show the distribution, thickness and lateral extent of hydrocarbon contamination as represented on the radargram reflector tones. Contaminations were of varying degrees, ranging from slight to high, indicating levels of substantial attenuation of crude oil contamination over time. Moreover, the display of relatively lower resistivities of locations outside the impacted areas compared to resistivity values within the impacted areas and the 3-D Cartesian images of oil contaminant plume depicted by red, light brown and magenta for high, low and very low oil impacted areas, respectively confirmed significant recent pollution of the study area with crude oil.

Keywords: Electrical resistivity, geophysical investigations, ground penetrating radar, oil-polluted sites.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 3044

Authors: W. Wongthatsanekorn, N. Matheekrieangkrai

Abstract:

This research proposes Bee Algorithm (BA) to optimize Ready Mixed Concrete (RMC) truck scheduling problem from single batch plant to multiple construction sites. This problem is considered as an NP-hard constrained combinatorial optimization problem. This paper provides the details of the RMC dispatching process and its related constraints. BA was then developed to minimize total waiting time of RMC trucks while satisfying all constraints. The performance of BA is then evaluated on two benchmark problems (3 and 5construction sites) according to previous researchers. The simulation results of BA are compared in term of efficiency and accuracy with Genetic Algorithm (GA) and all problems show that BA approach outperforms GA in term of efficiency and accuracy to obtain optimal solution. Hence, BA approach could be practically implemented to obtain the best schedule.

Keywords: Bee Colony Optimization, Ready Mixed Concrete Problem.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2865

Authors: Rocío Abascal-Mena, Erick López-Ornelas

Abstract:

We present the results of a case study aiming to assess the reflection of the tourism community in the Web and its usability to propose new ways to communicate visually. The wealth of information contained in the Web and the clear facilities to communicate personals points of view makes of the social web a new space of exploration. In this way, social web allow the sharing of information between communities with similar interests. However, the tourism community remains unexplored as is the case of the information covered in travel stories. Along the Web, we find multiples sites allowing the users to communicate their experiences and personal points of view of a particular place of the world. This cultural heritage is found in multiple documents, usually very little supplemented with photos, so they are difficult to explore due to the lack of visual information. This paper explores the possibility of analyzing travel stories to display them visually on maps and generate new knowledge such as patterns of travel routes. This way, travel narratives published in electronic formats can be very important especially to the tourism community because of the great amount of knowledge that can be extracted. Our approach is based on the use of a Geoparsing Web Service to extract geographic coordinates from travel narratives in order to draw the geo-positions and link the documents into a map image.

Keywords: Social web, tourism community, visual communication, travel stories, geo references.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1600

Authors: Safak Baykal

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is analyzing the relationship between trust and social capital of people with using Social Network Analysis. In this study, two aspects of social capital will be focused: Bonding, homophilous social capital (BoSC), and Bridging, heterophilous social capital (BrSC). These two aspects diverge each other regarding to the social theories. The other concept of the study is Trust (Tr), namely interpersonal trust, willing to ascribe good intentions to and have confidence in the words and actions of other people. In this study, the sample group, 61 people, was selected from a private firm from the defense industry. The relation between BoSC/BrSC and Tr is shown by using Social Network Analysis (SNA) and statistical analysis with Likert type-questionnaire. The results of the analysis show the Cronbach’s alpha value is 0.756 and social capital values (BoSC/BrSC) is not correlated with Tr values of the people.

Keywords: Social capital, interpersonal trust, social network analysis (SNA).

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2532

Authors: Abdallah Ghoul, Bachir Ouamri, Ismail Khalil Bousserhane

Abstract:

In this paper, we have developed a sliding mode controller for PUMA 600 manipulator robot, to control the remote robot a teleoperation system was developed. This system includes two sites, local and remote. The sliding mode controller is installed at the remote site. The client asks for a position through an interface and receives the real positions after running of the task by the remote robot. Both sites are interconnected via the Internet. In order to verify the effectiveness of the sliding mode controller, that is compared with a classic PID controller. The developed approach is tested on a virtual robot. The results confirmed the high performance of this approach.

Keywords: Internet, manipulator robot, PID controller, remote control, sliding mode, teleoperation.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 910

Authors: Gioacchino Lavanco, Elisabetta Di Giovanni, Floriana Romano

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to study in depth some methodological aspects of social interventation, focusing on desirable passage from social maternage method to peer advocacy method. For this purpose, we intend analyze social and organizative components, that affect operator-s professional action and that are part of his psychological environment, besides the physical and social one. In fact, operator-s interventation should not be limited to a pure supply of techniques, nor to take shape as improvised action, but “full of good purposes".

Keywords: Advocacy, Education, Relationship, Social Mandate.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1319

Authors: G. Petruzzelli, F. Pedron, M. Grifoni, M. Barbafieri, I. Rosellini, B. Pezzarossa

Abstract:

As a result of diverse industrial activities, pollution from numerous contaminant affects both groundwater and soils. Many contaminated sites have been discovered in industrialized countries and their remediation is a priority in environmental legislations. The aim of this paper is to provide the evolution of remediation from consolidated invasive technologies to environmental friendly green strategies. Many clean-up technologies have been used. Nowadays the technologies selection is no longer exclusively based on eliminating the source of pollution, but the aim of remediation includes also the recovery of soil quality. “Green remediation”, a strategy based on “soft technologies”, appears the key to tackle the issue of remediation of contaminated sites with the greatest attention to environmental quality, including the preservation of soil functionality.

Keywords: Bioremediation, green remediation, phytoremediation, remediation technologies, soil.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1776

Authors: Shaukat Wasi, Zubair A. Shaikh, Sajid Qasmi, Hussain Sachwani, Rehman Lalani, Aamir Chagani

Abstract:

Automatic Extraction of Event information from social text stream (emails, social network sites, blogs etc) is a vital requirement for many applications like Event Planning and Management systems and security applications. The key information components needed from Event related text are Event title, location, participants, date and time. Emails have very unique distinctions over other social text streams from the perspective of layout and format and conversation style and are the most commonly used communication channel for broadcasting and planning events. Therefore we have chosen emails as our dataset. In our work, we have employed two statistical NLP methods, named as Finite State Machines (FSM) and Hidden Markov Model (HMM) for the extraction of event related contextual information. An application has been developed providing a comparison among the two methods over the event extraction task. It comprises of two modules, one for each method, and works for both bulk as well as direct user input. The results are evaluated using Precision, Recall and F-Score. Experiments show that both methods produce high performance and accuracy, however HMM was good enough over Title extraction and FSM proved to be better for Venue, Date, and time.

Keywords: Emails, Event Extraction, Event Detection, Finite state machines, Hidden Markov Model.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2272

Authors: Mohammad Al-Fayoumi, Soumya Banerjee, Jr., P. K. Mahanti

Abstract:

A social network is a set of people or organization or other social entities connected by some form of relationships. Analysis of social network broadly elaborates visual and mathematical representation of that relationship. Web can also be considered as a social network. This paper presents an innovative approach to analyze a social network using a variant of existing ant colony optimization algorithm called as Clever Ant Colony Metaphor. Experiments are performed and interesting findings and observations have been inferred based on the proposed model.

Keywords: Social Network, Ant Colony, Maximum Clique, Sub graph, Clever Ant colony.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1933

Authors: Priya Sepaha

Abstract:

Social media has loomed as the most effective tool in recent times to flag the causes, contents, opinions and direction of any social movement and has demonstrated that it will have a far-reaching effect on government as well. This study focuses on India which has emerged as the fastest growing community on social media. Social movement activists, in particular, have extensively utilized the power of digital social media to streamline the effectiveness of social protest on a particular issue through extensive successful mass mobilizations. This research analyses the role and impact of social media as a power to catalyze the social movements in India and further seeks to describe how certain social movements are resisted, subverted, co-opted and/or deployed by social media. The impact assessment study has been made with the help of cases, policies and some social movement which India has witnessed the assertion of numerous social issues perturbing the public which eventually paved the way for remarkable judicial decisions. The paper concludes with the observations that despite its pros and cons, the impacts of social media on the functioning of the Indian Government have demonstrated that it has already become an indispensable tool in the hands of social media-suave Indians who are committed to bring about a desired change.

Keywords: Impact, Indian government, misuse, social media, social movement.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 922

Authors: Yiorgos Hadjichristou

Abstract:

The paper will focus on the strategic development deriving from the evolution of the traditional courtyard spatial organization towards a new, contemporary sustainable way of living. New sustainable approaches that engulf the social issues, the notion of place, the understanding of weather architecture blended together with the bioclimatic behavior will be seen through a series of experimental case studies in the island of Cyprus, inspired and originated from its traditional wisdom, ranging from small scale of living to urban interventions. Weather and nature will be seen as co-architectural authors with architects. Furthermore, the building will be seen not as an object but rather as a vessel of human activities. This will further enhance the notion of merging the material and immaterial, the built and unbuilt, subject-human, and the object-building. This eventually will enable to generate the discussion of the understanding of the building in relation to the place and its inhabitants, where the human topography is more important than the material topography. The specificities of the divided island and the dealing with sites that are in vicinity with the diving Green Line will further trigger explorations dealing with the regeneration issues and the social sustainability offering unprecedented opportunities for innovative sustainable ways of living. Opening up a discourse with premises of weather-nature, materialimmaterial, human-material topographies in relation to the contested sites of the borders will lead us to develop innovative strategies for a profound, both technical and social sustainability, which fruitfully yields to innovative living built environments, responding to the ever changing environmental and social needs. As a starting point, a case study in Kaimakli in Nicosia, a refurbishment with an extension of a traditional house, already engulfs all the traditional/ vernacular wisdom of the bioclimatic architecture. The project focusses on the direct and quite obvious bioclimatic features such as south orientation and cross ventilation. Furthermore, it tries to reinvent the adaptation of these parameters in order to turn the whole house to a contemporary living environment. In order to succeed this, evolutions of traditional architectural elements and spatial conditions are integrated in a way that does not only respond to some certain weather conditions, but they integrate and blend the weather within the built environment. A series of innovations aiming at maximum flexibility is proposed. The house can finally be transformed into a winter enclosure, while for the most part of the year it turns into a ‘camping’ living environment. Parallel to experimental interventions in existing traditional units, we will proceed examining the implementation of the same developed methodology in designing living units and complexes. Malleable courtyard organizations that attempt to blend the traditional wisdom with the contemporary needs for living, the weather and nature with the built environment will be seen tested in both horizontal and vertical developments. Social activities are seen as directly affected and forged by the weather conditions thus generating a new social identity of people where people are directly involved and interacting with the weather. The human actions and interaction with the built, material environment in order to respond to weather will be seen as the result of balancing the social with the technological sustainability, the immaterial, and the material aspects of the living environment.

Keywords: Building as a verb, contemporary living, traditional bioclimatic wisdom, weather architecture.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2022

Authors: Mihaela Jucan, Cornel Jucan, Ilie Rotariu

Abstract:

The paper deals with the most important changes that have occurred in business because of social media and its impact on organisations and leadership in recent years. It seeks to synthesize existing research, theories and concepts, in order to understand "social destinations", and to provide a bridge from past research to future success. Becoming a "social destination" is a strategic and tactical leadership and management issue and the paper will present the importance of destination leadership in choosing the way towards a social destination and some organisational models. It also presents some social media tools that can be used in transforming a destination into a social one. Adapting organisations to the twentyfirst century means adopting social media as a way of life and a way of business.

Keywords: Business, destination, leadership, organization, social.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 4088

Authors: M. Pieńko, A. Robak, E. Błazik-Borowa, J. Szer

Abstract:

This paper presents the results of analysis of 100 full-scale scaffolding structures in terms of compliance with legal acts and safety of use. In 2016 and 2017, authors examined scaffolds in Poland located at buildings which were at construction or renovation stage. The basic elements affecting the safety of scaffolding use such as anchors, supports, platforms, guardrails and toe-boards have been taken into account. All of these elements were checked in each of considered scaffolding. Based on the analyzed scaffoldings, the most common errors concerning assembly process and use of scaffolding were collected. Legal acts on the scaffoldings are not always clear, and this causes many issues. In practice, people realize how dangerous the use of incomplete scaffolds is only when the accident occurs. Despite the fact that the scaffolding should ensure the safety of its users, most accidents on construction sites are caused by fall from a height.

Keywords: Façade scaffolds, load capacity, practice, safety of people.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1500

Authors: Yuriy V. Timofeyev, Galina V. Timofeyeva

Abstract:

In the paper it is questioned whether effective state social policy provides happiness and social progress. For this purpose selected correlations between Human Development Index (HDI), share of public social expenditures in GDP, the Happy Planet Index (HPI), GDP per capita, and Government Effectiveness are examined and the results are graphically presented. It is shown how a government can affect well-being and happiness in different countries of modern world. Also, it is tested the hypothesis about existence of a certain optimum of well-being and public social expenditures, which affect direction of social progress. It is concluded that efficient social policy and wealth are not the only factors determining human happiness.

Keywords: government effectiveness, happiness, social progress, state social policy

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1518

Authors: K. A. Ghazaryan, H. S. Movsesyan, N. P. Ghazaryan

Abstract:

The present study was aimed in assessing the heavy metal pollution of the soils around Agarak copper-molybdenum mine complex and related environmental risks. This mine complex is located in the south-east part of Armenia, and the present study was conducted in 2013. The soils of the five riskiest sites of this region were studied: surroundings of the open mine, the sites adjacent to processing plant of Agarak copper-molybdenum mine complex, surroundings of Darazam active tailing dump, the recultivated tailing dump of “ravine - 2”, and the recultivated tailing dump of “ravine - 3”. The mountain cambisol was the main soil type in the study sites. The level of soil contamination by heavy metals was assessed by Contamination factors (Cf), Degree of contamination (Cd), Geoaccumulation index (I-geo) and Enrichment factor (EF). The distribution pattern of trace metals in the soil profile according to Cf, Cd, I-geo and EF values shows that the soil is much polluted. Almost in all studied sites, Cu, Mo, Pb, and Cd were the main polluting heavy metals, and this was conditioned by Agarak copper-molybdenum mine complex activity. It is necessary to state that the pollution problem becomes pressing as some parts of these highly polluted region are inhabited by population, and agriculture is highly developed there; therefore, heavy metals can be transferred into human bodies through food chains and have direct influence on public health. Since the induced pollution can pose serious threats to public health, further investigations on soil and vegetation pollution are recommended. Finally, Cf calculating based on distance from the pollution source and the wind direction can provide more reasonable results.

Keywords: Agarak copper-molybdenum mine complex, heavy metals, soil contamination, enrichment factor, Armenia.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1205

Authors: Juha Kettunen

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to visualize the strategic network of higher education institutions and its strategic directions. The strategy map of the balanced scorecard approach is developed to describe the strategic objectives and their causal relationships in higher education. The empirical part of the study presents the survey results of the desired strategic directions of the network obtained from the teachers and other staff of the member institutions. Research and development projects are the most important form of activity in the network, but education and many other forms also turn out to be important. The results of this study support the argument that a strategic innovation alliance is a suitable and useful way to promote collaboration among European higher education institutions. The results of the study can be used by those who wish to promote such international collaboration among higher education institutions.

Keywords: Balanced scorecard, higher education, social networking, strategic planning.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1791

Authors: Shameemraj M. Nadaf, Sipra Behera, Hemant K. Rath, Garima Mishra, Raja Mukhopadhyay, Sumanta Patro

Abstract:

Microservices architecture has been widely embraced for rapid, frequent, and reliable delivery of complex applications. It enables organizations to evolve their technology stack in various domains. Today, the networking domain is flooded with plethora of devices and software solutions which address different functionalities ranging from elementary operations, viz., switching, routing, firewall etc., to complex analytics and insights based intelligent services. In this paper, we attempt to bring in the microservices based approach for agile and adaptive delivery of network services for any underlying networking technology. We discuss the life cycle management of each individual microservice and a distributed control approach with emphasis for dynamic provisioning, management, and orchestration in an automated fashion which can provide seamless operations in large scale networks. We have conducted validations of the system in lab testbed comprising of Traditional/Legacy and Software Defined Wireless Local Area networks.

Keywords: Microservices architecture, software defined wireless networks, traditional wireless networks, automation, orchestration, intelligent networks, network analytics, seamless management, single pane control, fine-grain control.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 794

Authors: Shigeaki Sakurai, Ryohei Orihara

Abstract:

This paper proposes an improvement method of classification efficiency in a classification model. The model is used in a risk search system and extracts specific labels from articles posted at bulletin board sites. The system can analyze the important discussions composed of the articles. The improvement method introduces ensemble learning methods that use multiple classification models. Also, it introduces expressions related to the specific labels into generation of word vectors. The paper applies the improvement method to articles collected from three bulletin board sites selected by users and verifies the effectiveness of the improvement method.

Keywords: Text mining, Risk search system, Corporate reputation, Bulletin board site, Ensemble learning

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1280

Authors: Bojan Korizma, Zeljko Panian

Abstract:

Online auctions are not very popular in Croatia. The main reason for this is a very limited number of services which can be used by Croatian users. Until recent times, even selling through the most popular online auction site eBay wasn't possible because PayPal services could not make payment to bank or debit card accounts in Croatia. Furthermore, many foreign sellers do not offer delivery of their products to Croatia which means that large quantities of goods initially offered on such sites are not available. With that in mind, it is necessary to analyze the buying and selling habits of Croatian users and existing online auction sites, both Croatian and foreign, and create a model for new domestic site. This site will have to exploit every positive aspect of existing models and neutralize every negative perception indicated by users in the survey so that, hopefully, it would attract new users.

Keywords: online auction, eBay, safe payment, product delivery

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1751

Authors: Ime R. Udotong, Justina I. R. Udotong

Abstract:

Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU), a subsidiary of ExxonMobil and the highest crude oil & condensate producer in Nigeria has its operational base and an oil terminal, the Qua Iboe terminal (QIT) located at Ibeno, Nigeria. Other oil companies like Network Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd, Frontier Oil Ltd; Shell Petroleum Development Company Ltd; Elf Petroleum Nigeria Ltd and Nigerian Agip Energy, a subsidiary of the Italian ENI E&P operate onshore, on the continental shelf and in deep offshore of the Atlantic Ocean, respectively with the coastal waters of Ibeno, Nigeria as the nearest shoreline. This study was designed to delineate the oil-polluted sites in Ibeno, Nigeria using microbiological and physico-chemical characterization of soils, sediments and ground and surface water samples from the study area. Results obtained revealed that there have been significant recent hydrocarbon inputs into this environment as observed from the high counts of hydrocarbonoclastic microorganisms in excess of 1% at all the stations sampled. Moreover, high concentrations of THC, BTEX and heavy metals contents in all the samples analyzed corroborate the high recent crude oil input into the study area. The results also showed that the pollution of the different environmental media sampled were of varying degrees, following the trend: ground water > surface water > sediments > soils.

Keywords: Microbiological characterization, oil-polluted sites, physico-chemical analyses, total hydrocarbon content.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 2266

Authors: A. Irudaya Veni Mary, M. Victor Louis Anthuvan, P. Christie, A. Indira

Abstract:

In India, social enterprises are working to create social value in various fields including education; health; women and child development; environment protection and community development. Although social enterprises have brought about tremendous changes in the lives of beneficiaries, the importance of their works is not understood thoroughly. One of the ways to prove themselves is to measure the impact, which in recent times has received much attention. This paper focuses on the study of social value created by the social enterprises in the field of community development. It also aims to put forth a research tool for measuring the social value created by the social enterprises in the field of community development. A close-ended interview schedule was prepared to measure the social value creation and it was administered among 60 beneficiaries of two social enterprises who work in the field of community development. The study results show that the social enterprises have brought four types of impact in the life of their beneficiaries; economic impact, social impact, political impact and cultural impact. This study is limited to the social enterprises those who work towards community development. This empirical finding will enable the reader to understand various types of social value created by the social enterprises working in the field of community development. This study will also serve as guide for social enterprises in community development activities to measure their impact and thereby improve their operation towards the betterment of the society. This paper is derived from an empirical research carried out to describe the different types of social value created by the social enterprises in India.

Keywords: Social enterprise, social entrepreneurs, social impact, social value, tool for social impact measurement.

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 1857