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Ensuring Access to Safe and Nutritious Food for All Through the Transformation of Food Systems
Développement d’un système intelligent de reconnaissance automatisée pour la caractérisation des états de surface de la chaussée en temps réel par une approche multicapteurs
Le rôle d’un service dédié à l’analyse de la météo routière est d’émettre des prévisions et des avertissements aux usagers quant à l’état de la chaussée, permettant ainsi d’anticiper les conditions de circulations dangereuses, notamment en période hivernale. Il est donc important de définir l’état de chaussée en tout temps. L’objectif de ce projet est donc de développer un système de détection multicapteurs automatisée pour la caractérisation en temps réel des états de surface de la chaussée (neige, glace, humide, sec). Ce mémoire se focalise donc sur le développement d’une méthode de fusion de données images et sons par apprentissage profond basée sur la théorie de Dempster-Shafer. Les mesures directes pour l’acquisition des données qui ont servi à l’entrainement du modèle de fusion ont été effectuées à l’aide de deux capteurs à faible coût disponibles dans le commerce. Le premier capteur est une caméra pour enregistrer des vidéos de la surface de la route. Le second capteur est un microphone pour enregistrer le bruit de l’interaction pneu-chaussée qui caractérise chaque état de surface. La finalité de ce système est de pouvoir fonctionner sur un nano-ordinateur pour l’acquisition, le traitement et la diffusion de l’information en temps réel afin d’avertir les services d’entretien routier ainsi que les usagers de la route. De façon précise, le système se présente comme suit :1) une architecture d’apprentissage profond classifiant chaque état de surface à partir des images issues de la vidéo sous forme de probabilités ; 2) une architecture d’apprentissage profond classifiant chaque état de surface à partir du son sous forme de probabilités ; 3) les probabilités issues de chaque architecture ont été ensuite introduites dans le modèle de fusion pour obtenir la décision finale. Afin que le système soit léger et moins coûteux, il a été développé à partir d’architectures alliant légèreté et précision à savoir Squeeznet pour les images et M5 pour le son. Lors de la validation, le système a démontré une bonne performance pour la détection des états surface avec notamment 87,9 % pour la glace noire et 97 % pour la neige fondante
The determinants of value addition: a crtitical analysis of global software engineering industry in Sri Lanka
It was evident through the literature that the perceived value delivery of the global software
engineering industry is low due to various facts. Therefore, this research concerns global
software product companies in Sri Lanka to explore the software engineering methods and
practices in increasing the value addition. The overall aim of the study is to identify the key
determinants for value addition in the global software engineering industry and critically
evaluate the impact of them for the software product companies to help maximise the value
addition to ultimately assure the sustainability of the industry.
An exploratory research approach was used initially since findings would emerge while the
study unfolds. Mixed method was employed as the literature itself was inadequate to
investigate the problem effectively to formulate the research framework. Twenty-three face-to-face online interviews were conducted with the subject matter experts covering all the
disciplines from the targeted organisations which was combined with the literature findings as
well as the outcomes of the market research outcomes conducted by both government and nongovernment institutes. Data from the interviews were analysed using NVivo 12. The findings
of the existing literature were verified through the exploratory study and the outcomes were
used to formulate the questionnaire for the public survey. 371 responses were considered after
cleansing the total responses received for the data analysis through SPSS 21 with alpha level
0.05. Internal consistency test was done before the descriptive analysis. After assuring the
reliability of the dataset, the correlation test, multiple regression test and analysis of variance
(ANOVA) test were carried out to fulfil the requirements of meeting the research objectives.
Five determinants for value addition were identified along with the key themes for each area.
They are staffing, delivery process, use of tools, governance, and technology infrastructure.
The cross-functional and self-organised teams built around the value streams, employing a
properly interconnected software delivery process with the right governance in the delivery
pipelines, selection of tools and providing the right infrastructure increases the value delivery.
Moreover, the constraints for value addition are poor interconnection in the internal processes,
rigid functional hierarchies, inaccurate selections and uses of tools, inflexible team
arrangements and inadequate focus for the technology infrastructure. The findings add to the
existing body of knowledge on increasing the value addition by employing effective processes,
practices and tools and the impacts of inaccurate applications the same in the global software
engineering industry
Annals [...].
Pedometrics: innovation in tropics; Legacy data: how turn it useful?; Advances in soil sensing; Pedometric guidelines to systematic soil surveys.Evento online. Coordenado por: Waldir de Carvalho Junior, Helena Saraiva Koenow Pinheiro, Ricardo SimĂŁo Diniz Dalmolin
The effects of institutions on emerging market firms’ international assignment location decisions
We investigate international assignment (IA) location decisions of emerging market firms as determined by the institutional contexts of their home and host countries. Using an institutional perspective, assignment patterns of the entire firm population in Slovenia to either other emerging or developed host countries in Europe are analysed. The findings show that both institutional quality and distance influence expatriation flows in firms from a low quality institutional context. These firms expatriate more to markets with high quality institutions and choose host countries with higher rather than smaller institutional distance for their IAs. We refine institutional theory with respect to host and home country institutional determinants of expatriation decisions by taking into consideration the particular features of emerging markets and their firms – separately and compared to developed markets and their firms
Addressing infrastructure challenges posed by the Harwich Formation through understanding its geological origins
Variable deposits known to make up the sequence of the Harwich Formation in London have been the subject of ongoing uncertainty within the engineering industry. Current stratigraphical subdivisions do not account for the systematic recognition of individual members in unexposed ground where recovered material is usually disturbed - fines are flushed out during the drilling process and loose materials are often lost or mixed with the surrounding layers.
Most engineering problems associated with the Harwich Formation deposits are down to their unconsolidated nature and irregular cementation within layers. The consequent engineering hazards are commonly reflected in high permeability, raised groundwater pressures, ground settlements - when found near the surface and poor stability - when exposed during excavations or tunnelling operations. This frequently leads to sudden design changes or requires contingency measures during construction. All of these can result in damaged equipment, slow progress, and unforeseen costs.
This research proposes a facies-based approach where the lithological facies assigned were identified based on reinterpretation of available borehole data from various ground investigations in London, supported by visual inspection of deposits in-situ and a selection of laboratory testing including Particle Size Distribution, Optical and Scanning Electron Microscopy and X-ray Diffraction analyses.
Two ground models were developed as a result: 1st a 3D geological model (MOVE model) of the stratigraphy found within the study area that explores the influence of local structural processes controlling/affecting these sediments pre-, syn- and post- deposition and 2nd a sequence stratigraphic model (Dionisos Flow model) unveiling stratal geometries of facies at various stages of accretion. The models present a series of sediment distribution maps, localised 3D views and cross-sections that aim to provide a novel approach to assist the geotechnical industry in predicting the likely distribution of the Harwich Formation deposits, decreasing the engineering risks associated with this stratum.Open Acces
From wallet to mobile: exploring how mobile payments create customer value in the service experience
This study explores how mobile proximity payments (MPP) (e.g., Apple Pay) create customer value in the service experience compared to traditional payment methods (e.g. cash and card). The main objectives were firstly to understand how customer value manifests as an outcome in the MPP service experience, and secondly to understand how the customer activities in the process of using MPP create customer value. To achieve these objectives a conceptual framework is built upon the Grönroos-Voima Value Model (Grönroos and Voima, 2013), and uses the Theory of Consumption Value (Sheth et al., 1991) to determine the customer value constructs for MPP, which is complimented with Script theory (Abelson, 1981) to determine the value creating activities the consumer does in the process of paying with MPP.
The study uses a sequential exploratory mixed methods design, wherein the first qualitative stage uses two methods, self-observations (n=200) and semi-structured interviews (n=18). The subsequent second quantitative stage uses an online survey (n=441) and Structural Equation Modelling analysis to further examine the relationships and effect between the value creating activities and customer value constructs identified in stage one. The academic contributions include the development of a model of mobile payment services value creation in the service experience, introducing the concept of in-use barriers which occur after adoption and constrains the consumers existing use of MPP, and revealing the importance of the mobile in-hand momentary condition as an antecedent state. Additionally, the customer value perspective of this thesis demonstrates an alternative to the dominant Information Technology approaches to researching mobile payments and broadens the view of technology from purely an object a user interacts with to an object that is immersed in consumers’ daily life
Investigating and mitigating the role of neutralisation techniques on information security policies violation in healthcare organisations
Healthcare organisations today rely heavily on Electronic Medical Records systems (EMRs), which have become highly crucial IT assets that require significant security efforts to safeguard patients’ information. Individuals who have legitimate access to an organisation’s assets to perform their day-to-day duties but intentionally or unintentionally violate information security policies can jeopardise their organisation’s information security efforts and cause significant legal and financial losses. In the information security (InfoSec) literature, several studies emphasised the necessity to understand why employees behave in ways that contradict information security requirements but have offered widely different solutions. In an effort to respond to this situation, this thesis addressed the gap in the information security academic research by providing a deep understanding of the problem of medical practitioners’ behavioural justifications to violate information security policies and then determining proper solutions to reduce this undesirable behaviour. Neutralisation theory was used as the theoretical basis for the research. This thesis adopted a mixed-method research approach that comprises four consecutive phases, and each phase represents a research study that was conducted in light of the results from the preceding phase. The first phase of the thesis started by investigating the relationship between medical practitioners’ neutralisation techniques and their intention to violate information security policies that protect a patient’s privacy. A quantitative study was conducted to extend the work of Siponen and Vance [1] through a study of the Saudi Arabia healthcare industry. The data was collected via an online questionnaire from 66 Medical Interns (MIs) working in four academic hospitals. The study found that six neutralisation techniques—(1) appeal to higher loyalties, (2) defence of necessity, (3) the metaphor of ledger, (4) denial of responsibility, (5) denial of injury, and (6) condemnation of condemners—significantly contribute to the justifications of the MIs in hypothetically violating information security policies. The second phase of this research used a series of semi-structured interviews with IT security professionals in one of the largest academic hospitals in Saudi Arabia to explore the environmental factors that motivated the medical practitioners to evoke various neutralisation techniques. The results revealed that social, organisational, and emotional factors all stimulated the behavioural justifications to breach information security policies. During these interviews, it became clear that the IT department needed to ensure that security policies fit the daily tasks of the medical practitioners by providing alternative solutions to ensure the effectiveness of those policies. Based on these interviews, the objective of the following two phases was to improve the effectiveness of InfoSec policies against the use of behavioural justification by engaging the end users in the modification of existing policies via a collaborative writing process. Those two phases were conducted in the UK and Saudi Arabia to determine whether the collaborative writing process could produce a more effective security policy that balanced the security requirements with daily business needs, thus leading to a reduction in the use of neutralisation techniques to violate security policies. The overall result confirmed that the involvement of the end users via a collaborative writing process positively improved the effectiveness of the security policy to mitigate the individual behavioural justifications, showing that the process is a promising one to enhance security compliance
Examining the Impact of Personal Social Media Use at Work on Workplace Outcomes
A noticable shift is underway in today’s multi-generational workforce. As younger employees propel digital workforce transformation and embrace technology adoption in the workplace, organisations need to show they are forward-thinking in their digital transformation strategies, and the emergent integration of social media in organisations is reshaping internal communication strategies, in a bid to improve corporate reputations and foster employee engagement. However, the impact of personal social media use on psychological and behavioural workplace outcomes is still debatebale with contrasting results in the literature identifying both positive and negative effects on workplace outcomes among organisational employees.
This study seeks to examine this debate through the lens of social capital theory and study personal social media use at work using distinct variables of social use, cognitive use, and hedonic use. A quantitative analysis of data from 419 organisational employees in Jordan using SEM-PLS reveals that personal social media use at work is a double-edged sword as its impact differs by usage types. First, the social use of personal social media at work reduces job burnout, turnover intention, presenteeism, and absenteeism; it also increases job involvement and organisational citizen behaviour. Second, the cognitive use of personal social media at work increases job involvement, organisational citizen behaviour, employee adaptability, and decreases presenteeism and absenteeism; it also increases job burnout and turnover intention. Finally, the hedonic use of personal social media at work carries only negative effects by increasing job burnout and turnover intention.
This study contributes to managerial understanding by showing the impact of different types of personal social media usage and recommends that organisations not limit employee access to personal social media within work time, but rather focus on raising awareness of the negative effects of excessive usage on employee well-being and encourage low to moderate use of personal social media at work and other personal and work-related online interaction associated with positive workplace outcomes. It also clarifies the need for further research in regions such as the Middle East with distinct cultural and socio-economic contexts
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