617 research outputs found

    Advances and Applications of DSmT for Information Fusion. Collected Works, Volume 5

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    This fifth volume on Advances and Applications of DSmT for Information Fusion collects theoretical and applied contributions of researchers working in different fields of applications and in mathematics, and is available in open-access. The collected contributions of this volume have either been published or presented after disseminating the fourth volume in 2015 in international conferences, seminars, workshops and journals, or they are new. The contributions of each part of this volume are chronologically ordered. First Part of this book presents some theoretical advances on DSmT, dealing mainly with modified Proportional Conflict Redistribution Rules (PCR) of combination with degree of intersection, coarsening techniques, interval calculus for PCR thanks to set inversion via interval analysis (SIVIA), rough set classifiers, canonical decomposition of dichotomous belief functions, fast PCR fusion, fast inter-criteria analysis with PCR, and improved PCR5 and PCR6 rules preserving the (quasi-)neutrality of (quasi-)vacuous belief assignment in the fusion of sources of evidence with their Matlab codes. Because more applications of DSmT have emerged in the past years since the apparition of the fourth book of DSmT in 2015, the second part of this volume is about selected applications of DSmT mainly in building change detection, object recognition, quality of data association in tracking, perception in robotics, risk assessment for torrent protection and multi-criteria decision-making, multi-modal image fusion, coarsening techniques, recommender system, levee characterization and assessment, human heading perception, trust assessment, robotics, biometrics, failure detection, GPS systems, inter-criteria analysis, group decision, human activity recognition, storm prediction, data association for autonomous vehicles, identification of maritime vessels, fusion of support vector machines (SVM), Silx-Furtif RUST code library for information fusion including PCR rules, and network for ship classification. Finally, the third part presents interesting contributions related to belief functions in general published or presented along the years since 2015. These contributions are related with decision-making under uncertainty, belief approximations, probability transformations, new distances between belief functions, non-classical multi-criteria decision-making problems with belief functions, generalization of Bayes theorem, image processing, data association, entropy and cross-entropy measures, fuzzy evidence numbers, negator of belief mass, human activity recognition, information fusion for breast cancer therapy, imbalanced data classification, and hybrid techniques mixing deep learning with belief functions as well

    Research Thesis for Undergraduate Engineering Programs in the Digitalization Era: Learning Strategies and Responsible Research Conduct Road to a University Education 4.0 Paradigm

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    Many university students have doubts about how or where to start writing their undergraduate thesis work; it is common not to be clear how to identify a research problem or even towards which topic their research is oriented, and there are doubts about how to process and systematize so much information available in the era of digitalization. This article presents learning strategies to formulate a research thesis for engineering undergraduate programs, with an emphasis on the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) toward a University Education 4.0 paradigm. The main themes and issues discussed in this article, carried out through learning strategies for students based on the scientific method, are the following: (i) Recommendations for choosing a research topic, (ii) Guidelines for problem identification and question research, (iii) Suggestions for choosing a thesis advisor, (iv) Instructions for finding suitable sources of information, (v) Structure of the table of contents for writing the thesis manuscript, and (vi) Indications for preparing an oral defense of thesis research. This article highlights recommendations and precautions directed towards professors and students with the use of the chatbot-type artificial intelligence (AI) tool called ChatGPT for the formulation of the thesis under a responsible conduct approach in research. This article concludes that the application of tutoring/guidance strategies between professors and students requires an adequate ethical use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) during the development of a research thesis to generate a comprehensive educational environment that encourages research and develops a sustainable learning process in the context of the University Education 4.0 paradigm

    Tradition and Innovation in Construction Project Management

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    This book is a reprint of the Special Issue 'Tradition and Innovation in Construction Project Management' that was published in the journal Buildings

    Examining justice issues in minigrids for rural electrification: a participatory and interdisciplinary study

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    Electricity is necessary for many basic needs, but globally over 700 million people lack access. Economic modelling suggests that minigrids or solar home systems are often the most cost-effective solution in unelectrified rural areas. There has been an increase in the role of the private sector in delivering these projects, which leads to justice questions about implementation. This thesis uses participatory and interdisciplinary approaches to explore justice issues in minigrids for rural electrification in Tanzania. Six rural minigrids were visited across the country, with one village, Mpale, forming the main case study. Data collection methods include interviews, focus groups, surveys, observations and participatory activities. Data were analysed using a grounded coding methodology in NVivo and through economic and technical approaches. This included a distributional analysis of tariff costs and a comparison of measured load profiles with customer survey data. The use of participatory methods in this research provided additional insights, developed through more equal relationships with communities, as well as outputs that benefited the communities I worked with and the minigrid sector in Tanzania. I have found that energy justice issues manifest in many ways. Poorer households often pay more per unit of electricity than others. Under some tariffs, households self-disconnect, which also influences the load profiles of minigrids. Community perspectives are often only considered to a limited amount and are not given adequate information. There is discordance between community expectations and project realities, particularly regarding tariff costs. Load-profile modelling doesn’t adequately consider the local context, particularly the affordability of tariffs and desired demand compared to actual usage. I conclude that there needs to be consideration of justice issues in rural minigrids. Increased participation of communities in policy and project planning would help to ensure their needs are better considered, which may also increase the likelihood of projects being successful

    Development of an Interpersonally Grounded Construction Management Curriculum Foundation Model

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    Purpose: Education is the driving force of higher education institution(s) (HEIs) globally and is critical for student employability and practitioner recruitment. Yet, against this backdrop, research in the field is limited and hitherto, investigations into construction management curriculum development are scant. This research presents a foundational design specification for construction management programme curriculum development and aims to engender wider polemic debate as well as stimulate new insight into current higher education employability preparation practice. Methodology: The overarching epistemology adopts interpretivist, pragmatic and post-positivist philosophical stances to critically analyse extant literature, secondary data and primary data on the foundational skills/competencies of construction management education. Abductive reasoning forms the overarching basis of a new emergent curriculum model that maps interpersonal skills and highlights the critical foundational skills and competencies necessary. Findings: Research findings illustrate that construction management curriculum development lacks a cohesive community of practice and curriculum agenda. Importantly, it appears that although the modern construction manager needs an appreciation of digital technologies under the umbrella of Industry 4.0, their interpersonal skills and competencies were observed to far outweigh and exceed these. Premised upon these findings, the curriculum foundation model developed delineates the four key interpersonal skills and competencies construction management programmes should utilise for developing their curriculum. Originality: This novel research unearths the lack of a cohesive curriculum agenda within construction management education, highlights the importance of interpersonal skills and competencies within the role of construction manager and based upon this, presents a curriculum foundation model

    Internet and Biometric Web Based Business Management Decision Support

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    Internet and Biometric Web Based Business Management Decision Support MICROBE MOOC material prepared under IO1/A5 Development of the MICROBE personalized MOOCs content and teaching materials Prepared by: A. Kaklauskas, A. Banaitis, I. Ubarte Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Lithuania Project No: 2020-1-LT01-KA203-07810

    Changing Priorities. 3rd VIBRArch

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    In order to warrant a good present and future for people around the planet and to safe the care of the planet itself, research in architecture has to release all its potential. Therefore, the aims of the 3rd Valencia International Biennial of Research in Architecture are: - To focus on the most relevant needs of humanity and the planet and what architectural research can do for solving them. - To assess the evolution of architectural research in traditionally matters of interest and the current state of these popular and widespread topics. - To deepen in the current state and findings of architectural research on subjects akin to post-capitalism and frequently related to equal opportunities and the universal right to personal development and happiness. - To showcase all kinds of research related to the new and holistic concept of sustainability and to climate emergency. - To place in the spotlight those ongoing works or available proposals developed by architectural researchers in order to combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. - To underline the capacity of architectural research to develop resiliency and abilities to adapt itself to changing priorities. - To highlight architecture's multidisciplinarity as a melting pot of multiple approaches, points of view and expertise. - To open new perspectives for architectural research by promoting the development of multidisciplinary and inter-university networks and research groups. For all that, the 3rd Valencia International Biennial of Research in Architecture is open not only to architects, but also for any academic, practitioner, professional or student with a determination to develop research in architecture or neighboring fields.Cabrera Fausto, I. (2023). Changing Priorities. 3rd VIBRArch. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/VIBRArch2022.2022.1686

    Priming and Mining the Civil Engineering Mindset: How Personal Values and Perfectionism Shape Societal Engagement and Consideration in Design

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    There are many ongoing calls for the integration of public welfare needs and concerns into engineering curricula and practice; for example, promoting social consciousness, human-centred design, and other socially-related frameworks. However, some engineering students still seem to devalue or resist these initiatives. This project attempts to overcome this problem by exploring a new methodology to facilitate such integrations, whilst bypassing the possible resistance. In the first intervention, this project explores to facilitate such notions via exploiting the psychology-informed approach of priming. Results of the first intervention showed that the priming initially intended to raise empathy (and by extension, social consciousness) scores unexpectedly resulted in significantly decreasing them. This initiated the second and third interventions, which explored how different key facets of the mindset (i.e., personal values and perfectionism, respectively) contribute to decision-making, particularly in contexts of human-centred designing and socially relevant initiatives, in civil engineering design. Such research on exploring the engineering mindset was to also inform the under-explored research literature on the subjective nature of sustainable decision-making in engineering. .. The second and third interventions therefore serve to fill the gap on addressing the subjective nature of sustainable decision-making in engineering, by researching to understand how the different facets of the mindset (i.e., personal values and perfectionism, respectively) dictate decision-making and facilitate (or hinder) social engagement and consideration in human-centric designing and socially considerate contexts. The influence of priming on such decision-making processes and social considerations were also observed in light of the different facets of the mindset. Results show that the majority of civil engineering undergraduates hold dominant Higher Order Values rooted in Self Transcendence (60.87%), and were categorised as perfectionists (74.48%). Findings indicate that those with Higher Order Value rooted in Self Transcendence were significantly less likely to produce what I term Communal Designs (i.e., designs that inform the metaphysical as well as the physical needs of the end-user), compared to those with dominant values rooted in the Higher Order Value of Openness to Change. Students were also found to transition in value towards the Higher Order Value of Conservation with time (i.e., with transition from year 1 to year 3 in a civil engineering programme), and thus transition away from their likelihood of producing Communal Designs by extension. Similarly, those categorised as perfectionists were significantly less likely to produce Communal Designs compared to those categorised as non-perfectionists. Perfectionists were later found to be associated with the Higher Order Value of Conservation when resumed back to the literature for sense-making of the present findings. Underlying common motives of Self-Protection and Anxiety-Avoidance were thus deduced to be hindering ‘truthful’ (i.e., intrinsically driven) engagement with human-centric initiatives, and production of what I termed Communal Designs. An intention-behaviour gap was found prominent in civil engineering undergraduates perhaps intending to, but then failing to produce Communal Designs. Further, the reversed influence of the priming was then discussed to be relative to the underlying motives of self-protection and anxiety-avoidance of the civil engineering undergraduates. Findings of the present project thus serve as a foundation for future mitigative studies or interventions promoting socially considerate initiatives or practices in civil engineering designs

    Operational Research: methods and applications

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    This is the final version. Available on open access from Taylor & Francis via the DOI in this recordThroughout its history, Operational Research has evolved to include methods, models and algorithms that have been applied to a wide range of contexts. This encyclopedic article consists of two main sections: methods and applications. The first summarises the up-to-date knowledge and provides an overview of the state-of-the-art methods and key developments in the various subdomains of the field. The second offers a wide-ranging list of areas where Operational Research has been applied. The article is meant to be read in a nonlinear fashion and used as a point of reference by a diverse pool of readers: academics, researchers, students, and practitioners. The entries within the methods and applications sections are presented in alphabetical order. The authors dedicate this paper to the 2023 Turkey/Syria earthquake victims. We sincerely hope that advances in OR will play a role towards minimising the pain and suffering caused by this and future catastrophes
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