Short trips and central places: the home-school distances in the Flemish primary education system (Belgium)

This paper was published in the journal Applied Geography and the definitive published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2014.06.025.This paper examines the extent to which home-school trip length in northern Belgium is influenced by the spatial distribution of the school sites, and to what extent this distribution contemporarily functions according to propositions of central place theory. Furthermore, from a sustainable mobility perspective, it is evaluated if the primary school network's density supports a daily urban system based on short distances. The results indicate that the overall system's density meets the requirements of a non-motorized system, while the distribution confirms central place mechanisms. The majority of the pupils live within walking or cycling distance from their school, while opportunities exist to further reduce this distance by choosing an alternative school. However, depending on the structure of the concerned settlement, school accessibility varies considerably. Finally, the results suggest that recent increases in school trip length and motorization are mainly caused by non-spatial factors

A foundation for machine learning in design

This paper presents a formalism for considering the issues of learning in design. A foundation for machine learning in design (MLinD) is defined so as to provide answers to basic questions on learning in design, such as, "What types of knowledge can be learnt?", "How does learning occur?", and "When does learning occur?". Five main elements of MLinD are presented as the input knowledge, knowledge transformers, output knowledge, goals/reasons for learning, and learning triggers. Using this foundation, published systems in MLinD were reviewed. The systematic review presents a basis for validating the presented foundation. The paper concludes that there is considerable work to be carried out in order to fully formalize the foundation of MLinD

Cost efficiency and profitability in Thailand's life insurance industry: A stochastic cost frontier approach

Liberalized environments brought about by trade agreements and other restructuring of international markets under the General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS) have increased market opportunities for foreign firms. This opening up of domestic market under GATS will cause the inflow of foreign insurance firm hence heighten competitive pressures. As such, insurance firm in Thailand need to be efficient to ensure their survival. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the cost efficiency and its relationship with profitability in Thailand’s life insurance firms during the period 1997-2002 using the stochastic cost frontier approach. We find that the industry is on average 82 to 140 percent inefficient. There is no significant relationship between inefficiency and age. But, the mean inefficiency is negatively correlated with size suggesting the need for rationalization in the insurance industry in Thailand. Consolidating the large number of smaller insurers should be high on the government’s agenda, and the capital requirements for life insurers need to be increase. We show that inefficiency is negatively correlated with ROE and ROA ratios. This shows that efficient firms, on average, have higher return on equity and on assets. This indicates that inefficiency has substantial effect on the profitability of life insurance companies

Requirement elicitation and knowledge management utilizing relational database, client server and internet technologies

The first step in any project is a statement of requirements. Requirements specification is an inevitable part of any successful project. However, the rush to convert concepts to products often proves as a big hindrance in the development process of any requirements set. This, in turn, hampers the ability to produce the concept and manage knowledge as originally envisioned. The goal of the thesis is to foster understanding among the different communities affected by the development of the given system. The thesis is based on the principle that the requirements elicitation process for complex system is fundamentally a conversation among the stakeholders that is designers, customers and implementers. The web based tool developed for requirements elicitation allows the stakeholders to pool their respective expertise and viewpoints to resolve requirement issues. This leads to consensus building among the stakeholders and also provides with well-defined, clear, and concise requirements set. The requirements gathered by the tool can help determine the source, applicability, depth, and other factors needed for assessing and implementing integrated, and coherent, requirements set. It also helps the design team identify whether a specific requirement establishes a quantifiable threshold. Moreover, the tool uses the latest technologies of client server architecture, relational database and Internet. This make the tool efficient, portable, easy to debug. The three tier architecture of the tool also facilitates the ease in enhancement. The thesis also emphasizes that research efforts should be directed towards methods and tools needed to improve requirements analysis process and in particular o those providing more support to the elicitation of requirements. A simple lesson that can be learnt is that no one person knows everything about what a system should do. There are always many participants in a successful requirement elicitation effort

Applications of internet technology for requirements elicitation

During the Requirements Elicitation part of a project various stakeholders need to be able to communicate their requirements to the developers, and the developers need to be able communicate their understanding back to the stakeholders. Communication between the various members of the project is the key factor during the Requirements Elicitation part of a project. Easing communications between stakeholders and developers makes the process of eliciting requirement easier, leading to better requirements specification and eventually a better product. The Requirements Elicitation Process through Internet (REPI) web site has been designed and implemented to explore this idea. The prototype version of REPI guides project members through the elicitation phase using the Software Engineering Institute\u27s framework for Requirements Elicitation. The REPI web site forces stakeholders to explicitly describe the requirements and encourage early discussion between stakeholders and developers. This decreases the likelihood of misunderstood requirements, leading to better requirements specification

Application of the internet technology and client/server paradigm for the implementation of REPI

There are many problems associated with Requirements Engineering such as defining the system scope, developing understanding among the communities involved in the system to be built, volatility of requirements etc. These problems may lead to poor requirements and therefore cancellation of the system development, or else the development of a system that is unsatisfactory, has high maintenance cost or is unacceptable. By improving Requirements Elicitation, the Requirements Engineering can be improved, leading to a better requirements specification and eventually a better product. Requirements Elicitation requires effective communication among the team members, as communication is the key factor. Easing communications between stakeholders and developers makes the process of Requirements Elicitation easier. REPI guides team members through the elicitation phase using the SEI\u27s framework. REPI forces stakeholders to explicitly describe the requirements resulting in reduced chances of misunderstood requirements, leading to better requirements specification